Consumer Learning, Connectionism and Hayek's Theoretical Legacy

This paper considers using Hayek's theory of knowledge as a theoretical framework for interpreting consumer learning processes. The paper begins with an analysis of Hayek's theory of knowledge, related to his criticism of the general economic equilibrium theory, then illustrates how Hayek's approach is profoundly connectionist and is not at odds with the methods of the neural nets. Moreover, the link detectable between Hayek's approach to learning and Simon's approach to bounded rationality is illustrated. Finally, it is demonstrated that Hayek's approach is suitable for representing the procedures used by enterprises in strategies for convincing customers.Information; Knowledge; Learning; Friedrich Hayek

Cognitive Constraints and Reversibility of International Economic Institutions. The Case of the European Monetary System

This paper builds on the case study of the birth and death of the fixed exchange rate system in Western Europe, prior to the launch of the Euro. The analysis of this case aims to highlight how "new" international economic institutions may suffer the processes of "preference reversals" and thereby implode. De facto, the paper focuses on the cognitive factors that are deemed to have played an important role in determining the originating decision-making processes in favour of a system of fixed exchange rates and, then, in determining the abandonment of that system. After briefly explaining events such as the "currency snake" and the "European Monetary System" (EMS), the paper highlights how processes of this nature are conditional on the extent of the limits of rationality of the decision-making agents, with the consequence of producing cognitive imbalances. These imbalances are determined by the "fuzziness" with which agents evaluate not only opposing objectives, in particular those of employment and the balance of payments, but especially objectives achievable in an intertemporal dimension (Walliser, 2008: ch. 4). In fact, we illustrate how the actual inflationary differentials between the countries concerned determine the imbalances in the balances of payments. We also highlight how the policies to bring inflation under control can determine changes in the electorate in the preferences defined in the area of economic policies. The collapse of the monetary snake and the European Monetary System is representative of such a change in preferences. The conceptual framework of analysis used is that of temporary equilibria.

The Role of Preference Reversals in teh Collpase of Fixed Exchange rate Systems

The paper draws on the structural instability of fixed rate systems, also referring to Bretton Woods and the European Monetary System. In particular, the collapse of such systems is seem as a consequence of, amongst other things, formational and cognitive factors with an emphasis on the processes of preference reversal

Addiction and Dynamic Inconsistency of Consumption Plans

For pure consumer behavior theory, addiction is an extremely intriguing phenomenon The complexity of the phenomenon of addiction gives rise to numerous approaches to explain it. One of these is the Stigler and Becker model, based on the idea of rational addiction. Rational addiction is a formal analytical tool, but is unable to capture the real process from an economic point of view. In this paper, addiction is conceived as a process that produces intertemporal inconsistency, so it cannot be interpreted in trems of a neoclassical rational behavior. In order to explain the process more realistically, addiction mus be considered as a force producing impulsive acts of consumption. A formalization of this process can be based on the temporary equilibria approach, with equilibria changing in subsequent periods

Institutional changes and shifting ideas:a constitutional analysis of Euro

The paper uses the logical tools of Constitutional Economics to analyze the creation of the Euro, considering the entire process as an outcome of a conflict between different rules or, if you want, between different monetary systems, moving from the system of flexible exchange rates to a system of fixed exchange rates and ultimately to the single currency

Multi-objective preferences anf conflictiong objectives: the case of European monetary integration

The paper analyzes the birth of the Euro as a phenomenon in which the decision-makers reach the decision to create a new monetary regime; new inasmuch as it incorporates new rules of behaviour between nations, inducing changes in the weights attributable to different goals of economic and monetary policy

Razionalit\ue0\ua0 in psicologia e in eocnomia politica

Il paper analizza il concetto di razionalit\ue0 sotto il punto di vista della economia politica e sotto quello delle scienze cognitive. In particolare esso vuole utilizzare fondamentali statuizioni delle scienze cognitive per tracciare una mappa del concetto di razionalit\ue0 in economia politica

Economic Institutions, Institutional Complementaries and Institutionalized Linkages: The International Trade Case

The paper analyzes the characteristic features of the formation of institutions in the context of international economic relations, within the more general approach of New Institutional Economics. Here it is assumed that from a methodological point of view the analysis of the formation of international economic institutions does not deviate from the analysis of the formation process of any other institution