Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens
This article addresses the formalist-substantivist controversy in ancient economic history by bringing two new approaches to bear on it. On the one hand, it critiques the formalist approach (which relies on assumptions about economically rational behaviour) by examining critiques of neo-classical ec...
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| Format: | Book Section |
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Edinburgh University Press
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50760/ |
| _version_ | 1848798333718495232 |
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| author | Lewis, David |
| author2 | Canevaro, Mirko |
| author_facet | Canevaro, Mirko Lewis, David |
| author_sort | Lewis, David |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This article addresses the formalist-substantivist controversy in ancient economic history by bringing two new approaches to bear on it. On the one hand, it critiques the formalist approach (which relies on assumptions about economically rational behaviour) by examining critiques of neo-classical economics from the behaviouralist school. This shows that even modern economic actors are constrained in their capacity for rational behaviour by cognitive and emotional factors; a fortiori, we cannot expect Olympian rationality in antiquity. On the substantivist side, it reaffirms the importance of embeddedness, but uses Granovetter's view of embeddeness instead of Polanyi's. It also critiques the Finleyan reading of social values in ancient Greece that allegedly prevented economic growth and profit-oriented behaviour. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:18:07Z |
| format | Book Section |
| id | nottingham-50760 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:18:07Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Edinburgh University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-507602020-05-04T19:40:50Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50760/ Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens Lewis, David This article addresses the formalist-substantivist controversy in ancient economic history by bringing two new approaches to bear on it. On the one hand, it critiques the formalist approach (which relies on assumptions about economically rational behaviour) by examining critiques of neo-classical economics from the behaviouralist school. This shows that even modern economic actors are constrained in their capacity for rational behaviour by cognitive and emotional factors; a fortiori, we cannot expect Olympian rationality in antiquity. On the substantivist side, it reaffirms the importance of embeddedness, but uses Granovetter's view of embeddeness instead of Polanyi's. It also critiques the Finleyan reading of social values in ancient Greece that allegedly prevented economic growth and profit-oriented behaviour. Edinburgh University Press Canevaro, Mirko Gray, Ben Erskine, Andrew Ober, Josiah 2018-06-15 Book Section PeerReviewed Lewis, David (2018) Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens. In: Ancient Greek history and contemporary social science. Edinburgh Leventis studies . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp. 15-46. ISBN 9781474421775 https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-ancient-greek-history-and-contemporary-social-science-hb.html |
| spellingShingle | Lewis, David Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens |
| title | Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens |
| title_full | Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens |
| title_fullStr | Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens |
| title_short | Behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical Athens |
| title_sort | behavioural economics and economic behaviour in classical athens |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50760/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50760/ |