行为经济学与实验经济学的学术分野

The Academic Division between Behavioral Economics and Experimental Economics

行为经济学与实验经济学的兴起及其对新古典理论的内涵拓展是西方经济学近几十年来的重要演进特征。二者由于具有相似的理论基础和研究方法,经常被相提并论甚至混同。但回顾二者的发展历程可以发现,它们尽管在研究起点上相似,但在理论与政策归宿上各异。其中,实验经济学主要在市场层面上检验交易结果与新古典理性模型是否一致,以及如何渐趋一致,所以理论上仍接受理性模型对市场均衡的表述方式,政策上提倡围绕交易机制进行市场设计以促进有效均衡的实现;与之相对,行为经济学主要在个体层面上检验选择行为与新古典理性模型是否一致,以及为何不一致,所以理论上强调基于心理学等自然科学证据来构建更符合现实的个体描述性模型,政策上提出应针对个体决策情境实施“助推技术”以提升市场设计的有效性。这些讨论有助于我们更好地理解和把握西方经济学近几十年的演进趋势与分野,为我国当前的经济问题研究及经济理论建设提供有益借鉴。

The rise of behavioral economics and experimental economics and their extensions to the neoclassical theory have been important evolutions of western economics in recent decades. Because of the similarities in theoretical basis and research methods, behavioral and experimental economics are often mentioned in the same breath, sometimes even confused with each other. However, from reviewing their development processes, we can find that behavioral and experimental economics are different in terms of theoretical basis and policy directions, though they share similar starting points. Experimental economics mainly tests whether market outcomes are consistent with neoclassical models with the rationality assumption and how to be consistent gradually. Therefore, it still uses rational models as the descriptive mode of market equilibrium, and advocates the use of market design to promote the realization of effective equilibrium in policy. In contrast, behavioral economics mainly tests whether individual choice behavior is consistent with neoclassical models, and if not, why? Thus it emphasizes building more realistic models based on evidence from psychology and other natural sciences, and proposes “nudge technologies” as the policy tools for individual decisions to improve the effectiveness of market design. These discussions will help us better understand and grasp the evolution trend and divergence of western economics in recent decades, and provide useful reference for current research on economic problems and theories in China.