Economics, Hope and Leadership

Leadership is an example of a social influence process which has been traditionally ignored by orthodox economists who generally subscribe to the convention that economic analysis should take the preferences of individuals as given and should not analyse how they are formed and transformed. By assuming that leaders influence the hopes and not the preferences of followers a theory of leadership can be developed which draws on the philosophical perspective of some contemporary communitarian writers who have emphasised the role of hope in motivating people to participate in various quests. This theory is translated into a recognizable economic framework by treating hope as a form of human capital so that the influence leaders exercise over followers affects their capacity to produce satisfaction from participating in quests. The relevance of the communitarian-liberal debate over the relationship between the right and the good to the issue of the possibility of moral leadership is then explored.