Hayek and Behavioral Economics

Friedrich Hayek was awarded the 1974 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences for his contributions to the analysis of money and the business cycle, and for his penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena. Hayek was a polymath: he systematically analyzed human rationality, the nature of knowledge, and methodology. This book, which analyses his contributions to the emerging – and revolutionary – field of behavioral economics, has been written by an outstanding collection of authors including Deirdre McCloskey, Herbert Gintis, Peter Boettke and Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith. It is demonstrated that Hayek's seminal contributions came decades before economists such as Herbert Simon (winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize) and Harvey Leibenstein began to develop the field in earnest.

ROGER FRANTZ is a world authority in the emerging discipline of behavioural economics. He currently holds the post of Professor of Economics at San Diego State University. Publications include X-Efficiency, Two Minds: Intuition and Analysis in the History of Economic Thought, Renaissance in Behavioral Economics: Essays in Honor of Harvey Leibenstein, and articles in the American Economic Review, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Psychology, Journal of Socio-Economics, Journal of Behavioral Economics, and Public Choice.


ROBERT LEESON is a prolific historian of economic thought who has published in the Economic Journal, Economica, History of Political Economy and the Cambridge Journal of Economics. He has held visiting appointments at Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Western Ontario and Santa Clara University. He is currently Adjunct Professor at Notre Dame Australian University.