A response to six comments on The Community of Advantage. Issue 4 (2nd October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sugden, Robert
• Is Part Of: Journal of economic methodology. Volume 28:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 419
• Page End: 430
• Publication Date: 2021-10-02
• Subjects: Behavioural economics -- competitive market -- mutual benefit -- contractarianism -- opportunity; Codes: D63 -- D91; Economics -- Methodology -- Periodicals; 330.072
• DOI: 10.1080/1350178X.2021.1994634
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-178X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper responds to six contributions to a symposium on my 2018 book, The Community of Advantage . I defend that book's claim that most normative behavioural economics implicitly uses a psychologically ungrounded model of an 'inner rational agent'. I also defend the claim that, given the contractarian approach taken in the book, opportunity is normatively prior to welfare and to particular ingredients of well-being, such as health and perceptions of agency. I show how the Strong Interactive Opportunity Criterion proposed in the book can be extended to allow comparisons between the extent of opportunity provided by different economic regimes.