The Economics of Identity and the Identity of Economics

Fine, Ben

Abstract

Drawing upon individual and social choice theory, the economic approach to identity associated with Akerlof and Kranton is critically assessed in terms of its own definitional and technical conundrums. This leads on to an external critique in terms of the limited extent to which identity can be addressed by mainstream economic methods. Indeed, the latter essentially sets aside the insights into the nature of identity that emerged with modernism, let alone postmodernism. As a result, the enterprise of constructing an economics of identity is set in the context of recent changes in, and disagreement over interpretation of, the identity of contemporary economics.

Citation

Fine, B. (2009). The Economics of Identity and the Identity of Economics. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 33(2), 175-191. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/ben036

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009
• Deposit Date: Mar 26, 2009
• Journal: Cambridge Journal of Economics
• Print ISSN: 0309-166X
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-3545
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 175-191
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/ben036
• Publisher URL: http://cje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/ben036