The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Religion

2011 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Economics Of Religion ◽  
The Right ◽  
Individual Choices

This book brings together scholars in the economics of religion. The treatment of topics is interdisciplinary, comparative, as well as global in nature. Articles apply the economics of religion approach to contemporary issues such as immigrants in the United States and ask historical questions such as why Judaism as a religion promoted investment in education. The economics of religion applies economic concepts (for example, supply and demand) and models of the market to the study of religion. Advocates of the economics of religion approach look at ways in which the religion market influences individual choices as well as institutional development. For example, economists would argue that when a large denomination declines, the religion is not supplying the right kind of religious good that appeals to the faithful. Like firms, religions compete and supply goods. The economics of religion approach using rational choice theory assumes that all human beings, regardless of their cultural context or socio-economic situation, act rationally to further his/her ends.

Republic Inc.

2020 ◽  
pp. 24-44
Author(s):  
Jason Blakely
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Popular Discourse ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Republic

Popular claims to a science of economics have had an enormous impact on reshaping the nature of democracy in Europe and the United States. This chapter uncovers how a popular vision of human beings as egoistic preference maximizers (known to philosophers as homo economicus) played a major role in this transformation. Drawing on the authority and technical sophistication of economic rational choice theory, this popular discourse gave birth to a “market polis” in which all human relations are reimagined as transactional. The result has been the presentation of an egoistic form of citizenship, deficient in social solidarity, as if it were simply a fundamentally scientific view of political life. This has contributed to the move away from earlier notions of the public good (both in the New Deal and the founding of the republic) as well as backsliding toward increasingly authoritarian and antidemocratic forms of politics.

Guardian Angels

2020 ◽  
pp. 267-292
Author(s):  
Dominic D. P. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
Effective Strategies

This chapter presents a summary of the findings and explores the implications of the new evolutionary perspective on cognitive biases for international relations. It concludes that the cognitive biases are adaptive in a way that strategic instincts help individuals, state leaders, and nations achieve their goals. It also reviews effective strategies that often differ radically from those predicted by conventional paradigms, such as the rational choice theory. The chapter offers novel interpretations of historical events, especially the American Revolution, the British appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s, and the United States' Pacific campaign in World War II. It examines counterintuitive strategies for leaders and policymakers to exploit strategic instincts among themselves, the public, and other states.

Problematic Status of Corporate Regulation in the United States: Towards a New Moral Order

1992 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 705-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
G L Clark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
Corporate Restructuring ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Contractual Agreements ◽  
Benefit Cost

Evidence on the geographical dimensions of corporate restructuring in the United States suggests that, if left to themselves, corporations often break the law or at least the spirit of law in furthering their economic interests. The design and implementation of restructuring involving the spatial relocation of work is in many instances conceived with the goal of circumventing corporations' social obligations. Workers' pension entitlements (and their contractual agreements with corporations on many other matters) are at risk when the economic imperatives of competition and technical innovation are the driving forces behind corporations' actions. These issues are explored with respect to rational choice theory, advancing an argument to the effect that if corporate restructuring is only understood in these terms, the prospects for effective public regulation are bleak indeed. A regulatory framework that explicitly references moral standards could be, however, more effective because the terms of evaluation would be legitimately other than simple benefit-cost analysis. This last argument is briefly illustrated by reference to the moral component inherent in making contracts between agents.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Graham
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pursuit Of Happiness ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Right ◽  
Individual Choices ◽  
Distribution Of Income

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book considers the extent to which the American Dream—and the right to the pursuit of happiness—is equally available to all citizens today. Building on the author's research on well-being and on mobility and opportunity in countries around the world, the book explore the linkages between the distribution of income, attitudes about inequality and future mobility, and well-being in the United States, and also provides some comparisons with other countries and regions. This scholarship is distinct from existing work on inequality in its focus on the well-being–beliefs channel and its implications for individual choices about the future.

A Rational Choice Analysis of an Irrational Polity: Four Israeli Cases

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gideon Doron ◽  
Assaf Meydani
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Democratic Peace ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
First Case ◽  
Foreign Politics ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
The Right

This article presents RCT as a way for interpreting reality. In order to demonstrate this, we present four political events from Israeli domestic and foreign politics and examine them from a rational choice approach. The first case presents an account of the variations in the ideological positions of the right-wing and the left-wing parties regarding policy in general and particularly regarding the unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip that took place in the summer of 2005. In the second case we examine the rational assumptions (defined here as "Lies") that affected the political actions of Israeli Prime Ministers since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. The third case includes a discussion on the relevance of the "democratic peace" assertion in the context of foreign policy. Finally, we analyze the centrality of the High Court of Justice in the Israeli political and social domains. We conclude this article with a discussion of the issue of 'reality acceptance' and the difficulty entailed in affecting it - from the perspective of the rational choice theory.

scholarly journals Towards Divine Economics: Some Testable Propositions

2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (4II) ◽  
pp. 609-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Nisar Hussain Hamdani ◽  
Eatzaz Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Religious Orientation ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Economics Of Religion ◽  
Human Perceptions ◽  
Neoclassical Economic Theory ◽  
Heterogeneous Variables

Throughout the human history, the religion has remained a fundamental feature of social construct and human behaviour. Religious orientation plays important role in shaping human perceptions about economic and non-economic activities. With few exceptions, religion has remained an un-explored area in economics. For most economists, narrative and metaphor have no place in a rational choice theory, which is a wrong belief. In fact, any approach that considers behavioural laws satisfying the criteria of objectivity, reproducibility, and refutability is scientific and falls in purview of rational choice framework. A few studies, however, do exist on economics of religion under rational choice concerning to households, groups, and entire “religious markets”. [Becker (1976); Iannaccone (1988, 1990, 1992, 1993); Mack and Leigland (1992)]. Rosenberg (1985) presents discussion of the limitations of neoclassical economic theory due to its reliance on exogenous differences in taste and preference. It is argued that these limitations cannot be circumvented by findings and theories in other disciplines (e.g., psychology), because any measurement of preferences must begin with neoclassical assumptions about rationality. The alternative to tasteendogeniety advanced by [Becker (1976)] is found to only circumvent the usual difficulties if “stable preferences” notion is interpreted as needs. Further advancement is not taking place because of the important heterogeneous variables, which have yet received little attention from economists. Such variables may be found in attitudes and values acquired by consumers in variety of social and religious environments.

scholarly journals Deciding on the timing of early public childcare in Germany. An application of rational choice theory.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Steinberg ◽  
Corinna Kleinert
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Occupational Status ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
West Germany ◽  
East And West Germany

This study investigates some of the mechanisms, which lead to social inequalities in the usage of early childhood education and care (ECEC) by focusing on a recent period of public childcare expansion in Germany. Based on sociological rational educational decision models, we model the decision to use ECEC as a rational cost-benefit investment strategy, which simultaneously affects the human capital of mothers and children. We test our assumptions with data from the new-born cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS-SC1), estimating event history models. Results indicate that cost-benefit calculations are indeed relevant for the timing of ECEC take-up, but do not explain social differences. Mothers who perceive ECEC take-up as an investment into child development and as an opportunity to maintain their own occupational status take up ECEC earlier. This<br>association is particularly pronounced for highly educated mothers. Moreover, differences for East and West Germany highlight the importance of the cultural context for cost-benefit considerations. <br>

Clinical Trials of Xenotransplantation: Waiver of the Right to Withdraw from a Clinical Trial Should Be Required

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique A. Spillman ◽  
Robert M. Sade
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nonhuman Animal ◽  
Live Cells ◽  
Animal Cells ◽  
The Right

Xenotransplantation is defined as “any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation, or infusion into a human recipient of either (a) live cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source, or (b) human body fluids, cells, tissues or organs that have had ex vivo contact with live nonhuman animal cells, tissues, or organs.” Xenotransplantation has been viewed by desperate patients and their surgeons as a solution to the problem of the paucity of human organs available for transplantation. Foes of xenotransplantation argue that the use of animal organs degrades the human race and should be avoided.In this paper, we briefly review the cultural context of xenotransplantation and explore the infectious disease risk of xenotransplantation. The United States Code of Federal Regulations requires life-long surveillance of a xenotransplantation recipient due to the largely unknown risk of novel infectious disease transmitted across species, known as xenogeneic infectious disease. We argue that despite being in the interest of protecting the public health, the imposition of lifelong surveillance requirements on xenotransplant recipients effectively abrogates the right to withdraw from a clinical trial after the transplantation has taken place. Moreover, we argue that a waiver of the right to withdraw should be made explicit in the interest of full disclosure, out of respect for the research subject’s right of self-determination.

Rationality and Cognition

Legal Theory ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-103
Author(s):  
William N. Eskridge
Keyword(s):  
Utility Function ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Patterns Of Behavior ◽  
Institutional Actors

Rational-choice theory is pervasive in legal theorizing. Most law and economics work assumes that human beings make decisions that are rational as to both their ends and means. Decisions are ends-rational if they are directed at goals that satisfy the person's utility function; decisions are means-rational if they adopt methods reasonably connected to achieving those goals. Institutionalist theory assumes that institutions are composed of actors pursuing their own rational ends by rational means and, further, that those institutions themselves can be said to have rational ends pursued by rational means. Most rational-choice theorizing in law is positive: Thinkers are using the theory as a stylized way of describing patterns of behavior or predicting expected behavior. Such theorizing can also be normative: Rationality of ends and means is an aspiration of human and institutional actors, and law can improve upon existing behavior through rules, procedures, and structures.

Structure and Virtue in United States Political Economy

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary O. Furner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Salvage Operation ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Reform ◽  
The One

During a crucial period of United States history, 1880s–1940s, ideas developed in political economy were the core component of a transformation in the way Americans thought about the social and political order. These decades, the era of the elaboration in the United States and internationally of what historians of liberal reform thought refer to as the New Liberalism, were the site of a general reassessment of the constitutive ideologies, Smithian/Lockean liberalism, and a democratized, commercialized version of classical republicanism hanging over from the agrarian republic. Scary, unexpectedly turbulent conditions in an economy plagued by recurrent cyclical downturns in investment and employment, accompanied by unprecedented levels of social conflict, placed a premium on new knowledge. This need arose just as the academic professionalization of the social sciences, the rise of critical political journalism, and highly mobilized women's and labor movements began providing impressive new analytical talent. Efforts to find answers to pressing issues raised by the “social question” were intended initially by most of those involved as a salvage operation for what remained valid among key tenets of American liberalism regarding individualism, competition, the efficacy of the market, and the role of the state. Instead, they led ultimately to a reconstruction in public philosophy, at least on the scale of the one underway since the 1970s, with the “the return of the market,” the unprecedented sway of neoclassicism, and the multidisciplinary appeal of rational choice theory.

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