Evolutionary Behavioral Economics: Veblenian Institutionalist Insights from Recent Evidence

Abstract

Analyzing the material means of life and the adaption of the human agent in an unfolding sequence of cumulative causation is the central ingredient of an evolutionary approach to economics identified by Thorstein Veblen. This article argues evolutionary behavioral economics, as a complement to mainstream behavioral economics, will provide not only a deeper conceptual integration of psychological insights of human cognition and behavior into economic analysis, but also greater generality by incorporating the antecedence and consequence of human agents. Three Veblenian preconceptions are examined in relation to relevant evidence from cognitive and behavioral sciences and evolutionary psychology. One, individual activity is ongoing according to habit in deliberate reasoning, intuitive thought, and unconscious propensities, and is altered by doubt in the efficacy of habits. Two, the conflicting propensities of self- and other-regarding behavior underlie competitive and cooperative behavior, respectively. Three, the human consists of several innate learning mechanisms by which instituted modes of thought and behavior are transmitted across generations and such modes evolve in result of individual doubt-driven alteration in activity.