"We Thinking" and Its Consequences
American Economic Review · 2016 · Volume 106 · Issue 5
Abstract
Increasingly, economists are drawing on concepts from outside economics--such as "norms," "esteem," and "identity"--to model agents' social natures. A key reason for studying such social motivation is to shed light on the conditions that facilitate--or deter--collective action. It has been widely observed, for instance, that groups are more able to engage in collective action when they have a common, group identity. This paper gives one explanation for such a link. The paper develops a new concept, "we thinking"; and it also provides a deeper understanding of the concepts of norms, identity, and esteem.
Keywords
Consumer Economics: Theory, Social Choice, Clubs, Committees, Associations, Economic Sociology, Economic Anthropology, Language, Social and Economic Stratification
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