Abstract
One can approach the economics of the arts, as any field of applied economics, in either of two ways. First, one can treat economic theory and econometric technique as subjects settled by specialists in those fields, to be used in the ec onomics of the arts as they are given, very much as if one were studying the demand for maize. Alternatively, one can treat the economics of the arts as a field which may need and suggest its own developments in theory and technique, suitable to its spec ial problems and processes, from which general economic theory and econometric theory might in principle learn something. Perhaps this latter view is implausible, given the high state of development of economic theory and econometrics in the modern liter ature. Yet many of the advances embodied in these fields have come from particular areas of application-and the economics of maize has been a particularly fertile field.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arrow, K. J. (1962) “The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing.”Review of Economic Studies 29: 155–74.
Broadbent, D. (1987) “Simple Models for Experimentable Situations.” In P. Morris (ed.),Modelling Cognition Wiley, Chichester, pp. 169–186.
Camerer, Colin (1987) “Do Biases in Probability Judgement Matter.”American Economic Review 77 (5): 981–997.
Everitt, Brian (1980)Cluster Analysis, 2nd. ed. Halsted Press, New York,77 (5): 981–997.
Goldberg, David E. (1989)Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning, Addison-Wesley.
Grether, D. M. and Plott, C. R. (1979) “Economic Theory of Choice and the Preference Reversal.”American Economic Review 69 (4): 623–638.
Hartigan, John A (1975)Clustering Algorithms, John wiley and Sons, New York.
Holland, John H. (1975)Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems, University of Michigan Press.
Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A. (1984) “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decisions under Risk.”Econometrica 47: 263–291.
Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., and Tversky, A. (1982)Judgement under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases, Cambridge University Press, New York.
Machina, Mark (1987) “Choice under Uncertainty: Problems Solved and Unsolved.”Journal of Economic Perspectives 1 (1): 121–154.
McCain, Roger A. (1979) “Reflections on the Cultivation of Taste.”Journal of Cultural Economics 3 (1): 30–52.
McCain, Roger A. (1981) “Cultivation of Taste, Catastrophe Theory, and the Demand for Works of Art.”American Economic Review 71 (2): 332–334.
McCain, Roger A. (1982) “Optimal Subsidies to the Arts in a Shortsighted World.”Journal of Cultural Economics 6 (1): 15–32.
McCain, Roger A. (1985) “Economic Planning for Market Economies: The Optimality of Planning in an Economy with Uncertainty and Asymmetrical Information.”Economic Modelling 2 (4): 317–323.
McCain, Roger A. (1986) “Game Theory and the Cultivation of Taste.”Journal of Cultural Economics 10 (1): 1–15.
McCain, Roger A. (1991a) “Groping: Toward a Behavioral Metatheory of Choice.” in Roger Franz, Harinder Singh and James Gerber (eds.),Handbook of Behavioral Economics, pp. 495–508, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT.
McCain, Roger A. (1991b) “A Linguistic Theory of Rationality.”Social Science Information 30 (2): 233–255.
McCain, Roger A. (1992a).A Framework for Cognitive Economics, Praeger Publishers, New York.
McCain, Roger A. (1992b) “A Theory of Economic Planning for Market Economies: The Optimality of Planning,” in S. Bagwan Dahiya (ed.),Theoretical Foundations of Economic Planning, Vol. III: Sectoral and Regional Planning, Ch. 5, Vedams Books, New Delhi.
McCain, Roger A. (1994) “Genetic Algorithms, Teleological Conservatism, and the Emergence of Optimal Demand Relations: The Case of Stable Preferences.”Computational Economics 7: 187–202.
McCain, Roger A. (1995) “Genetic Algorithms, Teleological Conservatism, and the Emergence of Optimal Demand Relations,” in Nigel Gilbert (ed.),Proceedings of Second Conference on Simulating Societies, Siena, Italy, July 1993.
Nelson, Richard R and Winter, S. G. (1982)An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Newell, A. and Simon, H. A. (1972).Human Problem Solving, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Nozick, Robert (1982)Philosophical Explanations, Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA.
Rawlins, Gregory J. E. (ed.) (1991)Foundations of Genetic Algorithms Morgan Kaufman, San Mateo, CA.
Reddaway, W. B. (1936), “Irrationality in Consumers' Demand.”Economic Journal 46: 419–423.
Sanford, A. J. (1987)The Mind of Man, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1934)The Theory of Economic Development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Simon, H. A. (1955) “A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice.”Quarterly Journal of Economics 69 (1): 99–118.
Simon, H. A. (1978) “Rationality as a Process and as a Product of Thought.”American Economic Review 68 (2): 1–16.
Simon, H. A. (1979) “Rational Decision Making in Business Organizations.”American Economic Review 69 (4): 493–513.
Simon, Herbert A. (1987) “Rationality in Psychology and Economics,” in Robin M. Hogarth and Melvin W. Reder (eds.),Rational Choice: The Contrast between Economics and Psychology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 25–40.
Stigler, George and Becker, Gary (1977) “De Gustibus non est Disputandum.”American Economic Review 67 (2): 67–90.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
I am indebted to participants in the Seventh International Conference on Cultural Economics, Fort Worth, Texas, October 1992; to p articipants in the Seminar on the Economics of the Arts, Venice, Italy, December 1992; to participants in the conference of the Pennsylvania Economists' Association, Wiles-Barre, PA, June, 1993; to participants in the second conference on Simulating Soci eties, Siena, Italy, July 1993; to participants in the conference of the Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics, Rensselaerville, NY, August 1993; and to participants in the Third Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Economics and Manage ment, Portland, OR, August 1993, for useful comments on topics related to the research reported in this paper. Errors and omissions are, of course, attributable to the author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McCain, R.A. Cultivation of taste and bounded rationality: Some computer simulations. J Cult Econ 19, 1–15 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01074429
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01074429