Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/77533 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 26
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
Economists have traditionally treated preferences as exogenously given. Preferences are assumed to be influenced by neither beliefs nor the constraints people face. As a consequence, changes in behaviour are explained exclusively in terms of changes in the set of feasible alternatives. Here we argue that the opposition to explaining behavioural changes in terms of preference changes is illfounded, that the psychological properties of preferences render them susceptible to direct social influences, and that the impact of society on preferences is likely to have important economic and social consequences.
Subjects: 
endogenous preferences
culture
caste
frames
anchors
elicitation devices
JEL: 
A12
A13
D01
K0
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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