Beliefs and Misbeliefs: The economics of wishful thinking
Why do we stick to our views even when evidence blatantly contradicts us?
Motivated beliefs – which we hold because they are desirable rather than true – may be the answer.
They can make us feel more intelligent, productive and healthy than we really are – and even cause widespread organisational delusions and market frenzies.
Based on the latest research insights, this lecture will scrutinise theory, experimental and observational data to provide a compelling account of this phenomenon.
Speaker
Roland J. M. Bénabou, Theodore A. Wells '29 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Professor Bénabou joined Princeton University in 1999 and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Economics and the School of Public and International Affairs. His research spans both macroeconomic and microeconomic areas, such as the interplay of inflation and imperfect competition, or speculation and manipulation in financial markets. His recent work in behavioural economics focuses on extrinsic incentives versus intrinsic motivation, on the determinants of prosocial behaviour and on motivated beliefs, both individual and collective. Bénabou is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, corresponding member of the French Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, Fellow of the Econometric Society, Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Policy Research, among other distinguished memberships and appointments. He was a co-editor of the American Economic Review from 2014 to 2020 and has served on the editorial board of numerous other journals.
Host
Department of Economics, Monash Business School
BET (Behavioural, Experimental, Theoretical) Research Group, Monash Business School.
Monash Laboratory of Experimental Economics (MonLEE), Monash Business School.
Organised by
Department of Economics
Event Details
- Date:
- 15 March 2022 at 9:00 am – 11:00 am
- Venue:
- Online
- Categories:
- Economics
Description
Why do we stick to our views even when evidence blatantly contradicts us?
Motivated beliefs – which we hold because they are desirable rather than true – may be the answer.
They can make us feel more intelligent, productive and healthy than we really are – and even cause widespread organisational delusions and market frenzies.
Based on the latest research insights, this lecture will scrutinise theory, experimental and observational data to provide a compelling account of this phenomenon.
Speaker
Roland J. M. Bénabou, Theodore A. Wells '29 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Professor Bénabou joined Princeton University in 1999 and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Economics and the School of Public and International Affairs. His research spans both macroeconomic and microeconomic areas, such as the interplay of inflation and imperfect competition, or speculation and manipulation in financial markets. His recent work in behavioural economics focuses on extrinsic incentives versus intrinsic motivation, on the determinants of prosocial behaviour and on motivated beliefs, both individual and collective. Bénabou is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, corresponding member of the French Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, Fellow of the Econometric Society, Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Policy Research, among other distinguished memberships and appointments. He was a co-editor of the American Economic Review from 2014 to 2020 and has served on the editorial board of numerous other journals.
Host
Department of Economics, Monash Business School
BET (Behavioural, Experimental, Theoretical) Research Group, Monash Business School.
Monash Laboratory of Experimental Economics (MonLEE), Monash Business School.
Organised by
Department of Economics