LBRY Block Explorer

LBRY Claims • 92115

ae991969f4f47642f0b610f84001e3940b0c27e9

Published By
Created On
25 Aug 2021 04:45:19 UTC
Transaction ID
Cost
Safe for Work
Free
Yes
Measuring Utility: From the Marginal Revolution to Behavioral Economics
Author: Ivan Moscati
File Type: pdf
Utility is a key concept in the economics of individual decision-making. However, utility is not measurable in a straightforward way. As a result, from the very beginning there has been debates about the meaning of utility as well as how to measure it. This book is an innovative investigation of how these arguments changed over time. Measuring Utility reconstructs economists ideas and discussions about utility measurement from 1870 to 1985, as well as their attempts to measure utility empirically. The book brings into focus the interplay between the evolution of utility analysis, economists ideas about utility measurement, and their conception of what measurement in general means. It also explores the relationships between the history of utility measurement in economics, the history of the measurement of sensations in psychology, and the history of measurement theory in general. Finally, the book discusses some methodological problems related to utility measurement, such as the epistemological status of the utility concept and its measures. The first part covers the period 1870-1910, and discusses the issue of utility measurement in the theories of Jevons, Menger, Walras and other early utility theorists. Part II deals with the emergence of the notions of ordinal and cardinal utility during the period 1900-1945, and discusses two early attempts to give an empirical content to the notion of utility. Part III focuses on the 1945-1955 debate on utility measurement that was originated by von Neumann and Morgensterns expected utility theory (EUT). Part IV reconstructs the experimental attempts to measure the utility of money between 1950 and 1985 within the framework provided by EUT. This historical and epistemological overview provides keen insights into current debates about rational choice theory and behavioral economics in the theory of individual decision-making and the philosophy of economics. **Review Modern ideas on utility, including behavioral and choiceless interpretations, cannot be understood without knowing the past, including the marginal and ordinal revolutions. This book, written by the greatest historian on these topics, gives a full and perfect account. It is a must for everyone who really wants to understand modern economics.- Peter Wakker, Professor in Behavioral Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam For almost a century, from the 1880s until the 1970s, the best minds in economic theory struggled to solve the problem of measurability of utility. During this long journey they not only provided new mathematical foundations to Neoclassical economics, but also redefined its boundaries, and changed the very notion of measurement that lies at the core of contemporary science. Reconstructing the story of this remarkable achievement, Ivan Moscati has made a lasting contribution both to the history and to the philosophy of science.- Francesco Guala, University of Milan Ivan Moscati has given us an extremely important history of utility theory, measurement theory, and the relationship between the two for the period from the marginal revolution in the 1870s to the behavioral economics revolution in the mid-1980s. It is a badly needed book, on a very important topic, that deals with difficult interdisciplinary material, and it is brilliantly executed.- D. Wade Hands, University of Puget Sound About the Author Ivan Moscati is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Insubria, Varese, and teaches History of Economics at Bocconi University, Milan. His articles have been published in a range of journals in economics, history of economic thought, and economic methodology. His recent articles have been awarded the Best Article Award of the History of Economics Society and the Best Article Award of the European Society for the History of Economic Thought.
Author
Content Type
Unspecified
application/pdf
Language
English
Open in LBRY

More from the publisher

Controlling
JOHN
Controlling
THE N
Controlling
THE W
A BRI
Controlling
DINOS
Controlling
THE P
Controlling
SPY W
Controlling
THE G
Controlling
EVERY