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Article
The Same Face of the Two Smiths: Adam Smith and Vernon Smith
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
  • Maria Pia Paganelli, Trinity University
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
2-1-2011
Abstract

Going from personal to impersonal exchange seems to be a relevant feature that allows humans to develop complex societies and grow prosperous. Adam Smith's idea of moral imagination, embodied in the impartial spectator and achieved through sympathy, may integrate and complement today's evolutionary biology and experimental economic explanations, providing the missing key as to how we generate and internalize those rules of conduct that promote fair and cooperative behaviors.

DOI
10.1016/j.jebo.2011.01.009
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation Information
Paganelli, M. P. (2011). The same face of the two Smiths: Adam Smith and Vernon Smith. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 78(3), 246-255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2011.01.009