市场主体的自我价值感

Self is Never Neutral:Why Do Economic Agents Behave Irrationally?

现代经济学是从决策效用这个概念来理解效用的。通过效用最大化分析范式,经济学家反过来再推断经济主体的决策和选择。在本文看来,这样理解是重大的错误,因为经济主体经常为了维持"自我价值"不选择他真正想选择的标的。事实上,主体从来都不是中立的。当个体得不到某样他想得到的东西时,他经常为了要面子而说他不喜欢这东西。但是,当被强迫接受他并不喜欢的事物时,他为了保住面子而表现出他喜欢这事物。尽管像这样的非理性行为可能会降低经济主体的物质效用,却能给经济主体以心理上的满足和主观上的安慰,所以提高了主体的非物质效用。在这个意义上,经济主体选择这类行为是完全理性的,而这直接违反了新古典主义中的理性概念。

Modem economics understands utility from the concept of decision utility inferred from individuals' choice making.It explains agents' decisions and choices then by the paradigm of utility maximizing.To the view of the present paper,it is a fatal mistake because economic agents often do not choose what they really want to choose in order to maintain their'self value'.In fact,subject is never neutral.When agents are not able to get something,they often downplay the desirability of this item in order to get psychological satisfaction.But when they are forced to accept what they do not like, they will then show their desirability to it in order to save their face.Although such'irrational'behavior may decrease agents' economic utility,it entitles agents psychological satisfaction and subjective comfort and thus increase their immaterial utility.In this sense,agents are completely rational in conducting these behaviors which run directly against neoclassic rationality concept.