ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES ON CULTURAL EVOLUTION: ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS AND EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL NORMS

Yıl 2007, Cilt: 57 Sayı: 2, 27 - 48, 26.01.2012

Murat Birdal

Öz

Recent game theoretical studies illustrate that mutual trust among people is
what a society needs to be able to sustain a market order on a long-term basis and
at reasonable transaction costs. In this context, social norms play a crucial role in
the evolution of the economic structure, On the other hand, the evolution of the
market structure and other economic institutions means something more than
simply a change in the ways of allocation of goods and resources and has a
profound effect on social norms and values that form our preferences. In this
paper, by drawing on the game theory literature, we first explore the role played
by social norms and generalized morality in the expansion of markets. Secondly,
by using the endogenous preferences model, we discuss how these social norms
can be influenced by the evolution of the economic structure. The last part of the
paper is a case study on conversion to Islam in Sub Saharan Africa, in which we
test the relevance of our theoretical arguments.

Anahtar Kelimeler

ECONOMIC, PERSPECTIVES, CULTURAL

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES ON CULTURAL EVOLUTION: ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS AND EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL NORMS

Öz

Son dönemdeki oyun teorisi çalışmaları toplumun düşük İşlem maliyetli bir
piyasa düzenini uzun vadede sürdürebilmek için bireyler arasındaki karşılıklı
güven ilişkisine ihtiyaç duyduğuna işaret eder. Bu bağlamda, sosyal normlar
iktisadi yapının evriminde belirleyicidirler, Diğer yandan, piyasanın ve diğer
iktisadi kurumların dönüşümü sadece malların ve kaynakların tahsisinden öte
tercihlerimizi şekillendiren sosyal normlar ve değerler üzerinde belirleyici rol
oynar. Bu makalede, oyun teorisi literatürü üzerinden örneklerle, öncelikle sosyal
normlarin ve genel ahlak yapısının piyasalarin gelişmesindeki rolünü
inceleyeceğiz. İkinci olarak, endojen tercihler modeli üzerinden sosyal normlarin
iktisadi yapının evrim sürecinde nasıl değişebileceğini tartışacağız. Son bölümde
ise Salıara Altı Afrikasmda Müslümanlığa geçiş süreci üzerine yapılan çalışmalar
üzerinden teorik argümanlarımızın geçerliliğini sınayacağız.

Anahtar Kelimeler

ECONOMIC, PERSPECTIVES, CULTURAL

Kaynakça

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