The Formation of Preferences

偏好的形成

• 批准号: 9310495
• 负责人: Gary Becker
• 金额: $ 17.06万
• 依托单位: National Opinion Research Center
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1993
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1993-07-15 至 1998-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9310495&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Formation; Preferences

9310495 Becker The usual assumption in most discussions over time is that choices today are not directly dependent on choices in the past. The assumption of independence is not "nonsense," for it usefully simplifies many problems that are not crucially affected by dependencies over time. But the assumption has discouraged economists from grappling with other issues of considerable significance -- including addictions, work habits, preference formation, why children support their elderly parents, preference solutions to the problem of future commitments, and the evolution and stability of institutions. This project considers how a person's current preferences depend on past experiences, and on the behavior of others. The influence of the past is illustrated by habitual behavior, defined as behavior that displays a positive relation between the past and current consumptions of a good, such as drugs. The influence of others is illustrated by peer pressure, which may induce a teenager to start smoking. In essence, therefore, the project will consider the rational formation of preferences. The process is "rational" in the sense that a person is assumed to try to anticipate the consequences for his future preferences of what he does now, including groups with which he associates. The assumption of forward-looking and consistent behavior provides rules and implications that determine how preferences evolve over time, and in which groups. This work tries to contribute to our knowledge of these processes. ***

小行星9310495 随着时间的推移，大多数讨论中通常的假设是，今天的选择并不直接依赖于过去的选择。 独立性的假设并不是“无意义的”，因为它有效地简化了许多问题，这些问题并不受时间依赖性的严重影响。 但这一假设阻碍了经济学家去研究其他重要问题，包括成瘾、工作习惯、偏好的形成、为什么子女要赡养年迈的父母、未来承诺问题的偏好解决方案，以及制度的演变和稳定性。 这个项目考虑了一个人目前的偏好如何取决于过去的经验，以及其他人的行为。 过去的影响可以通过习惯性行为来说明，习惯性行为被定义为表现出过去和现在消费一种商品（如毒品）之间正相关的行为。 其他人的影响体现在同龄人的压力上，这种压力可能促使青少年开始吸烟。 因此，本项目实质上将考虑偏好的合理形成。 这一过程是“理性的”，因为人们被假定为试图预测他现在所做的事情（包括他所交往的群体）对他未来偏好的影响。 前瞻性和一致性行为的假设提供了规则和含义，决定了偏好如何随着时间的推移而演变，以及在哪些群体中。 这项工作试图有助于我们对这些过程的了解。 ***