Economics of the Mind

Salvatore Rizzello, University of Piemonte Orientale, Italy

'This is an interesting and valuable book. Drawing on contributions from economics, psychology and the cognitive sciences, the book presents a critique of some unrealistic hypotheses of neoclassical economics, and defends instead a broadly defined "neoinstitutionalist" approach to decision-making . . . The Economics of the Mind . . . deserves to be read by those concerned with the foundations of an alternative economic theory.'

• Contents: Foreword (Massimo Egidi) Introduction Part I: Hayek’s Criticism to the Neoclassical Paradigm 1. Neoclassical Paradigm and the Anomaly of the Austrian School 2. Hayek on Competition and Knowledge 3. Mind and Institutions Part II: Simon’s Criticism: From Substantive Rationality to Procedural Rationality 4. Bounded Rationality 5. Optimizing and “Satisficing” 6. Problem-Solving 7. Decision-Making Process: Procedural Rationality and Learning 8. Economics and Psychology Part III: Neoinstitutionalism: Rules, Learning and Evolution 9. The Implications of the Neurobiological Approach for Economic Theory (I): The Decision-Making Process 10. The Implications of the Neurobiological Approach for Economic Theory (II): The Process of Exchange 11. The Implications of the Neurobiological Approach for Economic Theory (III): “Path-Dependency” 12. Transaction Costs and the New Theory of the Firm 13. Evolution, Organizations and Institutions References Index