In the last two decades there has been a flourishing of research carried out jointly
by economists, psychologists, and neuroscientists. This meltdown of barriers
between competences has led toward original approaches to investigate the
mental and cognitive mechanisms involved in the way the economic agent collects,
processes, and uses information to make choices. This research field
involves a new kind of scientist, trained in different disciplines, familiar in managing
experimental data, and with the mathematical foundations of decision-making.
The ultimate goal of this research is to open the black-box
to understand
the behavioral and neural processes through which humans set preferences and
translate these behaviors into optimal choices. This volume intends to bring
forward new results and fresh insights into this matter.
The topics cover a broad field dealing with the mechanisms of decision-making,
moral judgments, social preferences, and the role of emotions and learning
in decision-making.
The collected chapters focus on issues not only specific
to neuroscience and economics but also to psychology, cognitive philosophy,
sociology, and marketing science. In this respect, the book deals with the interdisciplinary
aspects of decision-making.
Finally, all the contributions make
direct or indirect explicit reference to experimental results, and this is probably
the major trait d’union of the whole book.
This volume will be of great interest to students and researchers in the fields
of political economy, experimental economics, and behavioral economics.