Part I. Greed and Love: 1. Individual materialism, organizations, and power; 2. Love: the missing building block; Part II. Groups, Power and the Development of Institutions: 3. Groups and power; 4. Networks and markets; Part III. Implications and Examples: 5. The aggregate view; 6. Theoretical appendix.
A groundbreaking work which presents a unified theory of human behaviour, grounded in economic thought.
Professor Paul Frijters is a Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland. He was elected 'Best Economist under 40 in Australia' by the Economic Society of Australia for 2009-11, and his work consistently ranks in the top 4% of downloaded and cited economic research in the world. Professor Frijters has undertaken research in a wide variety of fields, including happiness and well-being, migration in China, behavioural economics and health economics. The findings of his research feature regularly in the global media. Dr Gigi Foster is a senior lecturer in the School of Economics within the Australian School of Business at the University of New South Wales. Her research focuses primarily on decisions related to human capital, with a particular emphasis on social influence and behavioural economics.
'What I particularly like about this book is the serious and
fruitful extension of the homo oeconomicus by including love and
loyalty. An attentive reader will greatly benefit from this
easy-to-read book.' Bruno S. Frey, Distinguished Professor of
Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School
'Mainstream neo-classical economics offers powerful insights into
many complex and puzzling patterns of human behavior. Yet these
insights go only so far, as many - perhaps, most - behavior
patterns fail in untold ways to conform to the simple
stimulus-response insights offered by this discipline. Frijters
(with Foster) has fundamentally extended this economic paradigm.
They have waded into a variety of other human motivations (featured
in other disciplines), and selected those patterns that best
complement the insights of conventional economics. Concepts of
love, friendship, loyalty, power, coalitions, ideals, joy and
compassion are all explored, and are used to temper, leaven and
expand the insights of self-interested maximization. This is a
formidable task, and their efforts are reflected in the breadth and
depths of the insights that they offer on issues such as trade
policy, environmental regulation, tax compliance, and income
redistribution.' Robert Haveman, University of Wisconsin,
Madison
'This is the most remarkable book I have read in the last decade.
It argues that your life, and society, is shaped by a giant version
of the Stockholm Syndrome. If you have no idea what that sentence
could mean, and you like a book that is intellectually taxing but
unforgettable, this is for you.' Andrew Oswald, University of
Warwick, and Visiting Fellow and Acting Research Director, IZA
Institute, Bonn
'In the grand tradition of Gary Becker, Paul Frijters offers a
unified theory of human behavior ...This impressive book seems to
explore every nook and cranny of human behavior, and beautifully
articulate[s] economic matters on every page.' Jeffrey G.
Williamson, Laird Bell Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard
University, and Honorary Fellow in Economics, University of
Wisconsin
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