传承而非颠覆:从古典、新古典到行为经济学

Succeeding But Not Subversion: From Classical to Neoclassical and to Behavioral Economics

从古典到新古典再到行为经济学,是经济学发展史上所经历的两次质变突破,是经济学历史传承的必然趋势,是社会存在对社会意识的决定和推动结果。其中行为经济学通过在经济学中纳入对异质经济行为动机的研究,而使得以同质经济理性为基本假定的新古典经济学成为其特例情形,因此它不是区别于主流经济学的边缘学派或颠覆性理论,而是主流经济学的理论前沿。此外,由于理论的相对真理性,我们不能把理论发展中的某一阶段等同于它的唯一和最终形式,或无视理论的相对真理性而对其加以滥用并作为对其他理论妄加批判的依据。故行为经济学也不是经济学的最终形态,它同样是经济学发展长河中的一个阶段,并仍将继续发展下去。科学的经济理论同样需要与时俱进。

There are two inevitably fundamental changes in the history of economics which happened from classical into neoclassical, and from neoclassical into behavioral economics respectively. These changes are the result of the social consciousness determined by the changed social being. We will argue that behavioral economics is advancing in mainstream economics but not the interdisciplinary subject or subversive theory, because it accommodates the analysis of the individuals＇ heterogeneous behavior and therefore, incorporates neoclassical economics as its special case which is based on the assumption of homogeneous economic rationality. Furthermore, because all of the scientific theories are relative truths, we can not regard certain stage of one theory as its unique and ultimate form, or abuse some theory as the basis of critique of other theories. Thus, behavioral economics is not the ultimate form of economics. It is only one stage of the history of economics and need more development. Economics is also in with the times.