The Stanford Graduate School of Business is hosting the inaugural David M. Kreps Symposium, entitled Homo economicus, Evolving.
Inaugural Symposium
David M. Kreps Symposia comprise a series of symposia on topics of broad interest to the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. The series was created through the generous support of friends and alumni of Stanford GSB, to honor the career of Prof. Kreps.
Date
November 17, 2023
In orthodox economic models, the individual agent, Homo economicus, is self-interested and rational, with fixed preferences and perfect foresight. However, economists are increasingly modeling individuals who are generous to others, who have preferences that depend on the context and that change, and who have cognitive limitations. This evolving vision of Homo economicus has profound implications for what we learn from economic analyses. The symposium will discuss this continuing evolution of economists’ representations of people’s motives and cognitive capabilities, and the implications of this evolution for specific contexts and public policy and, more broadly, for the discipline.