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Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here?

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  • Rowena Pecchenino

    (Department of Economics Finance and Accounting, National University of Ireland, Maynooth)

Abstract

Hope plays an important role in all individuals’ lives both today and in the future. While hope and hopelessness are important concepts and the subjects of much theorizing in psychology, theology, philosophy, political science, nursing, as well as in literature and the arts, it is absent from economics. This silence on hope is notable since hope is fundamentally at the centre of choice, especially intertemporal choice, which is at the centre of economic analysis. To place hope at the centre of intertemporal choice, it is important to clearly define what hope is and what it is not. What hope is not is constant. Hope is not optimism; hope is not unfounded dreams divorced from reality; hope is not irrational. I distil what hope is from its characterization in a number of different disciplines. A comparison of characterizations identifies a number of commonalities and common definitions. Using the derived set of definitions, I incorporate hope into economic analysis, consider what implications hope has for the modelling of choice and for economic behaviour, and discuss whether hope is implicitly imbedded in or has been abandoned, to our eternal cost, by economics.

Suggested Citation

  • Rowena Pecchenino, 2011. "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here?," Economics Department Working Paper Series n217-11.pdf, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    • Handle: RePEc:may:mayecw:n217-11.pdf
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    File URL: http://repec.maynoothuniversity.ie/mayecw-files/N217-11.pdf
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    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The economics of hope
      by Kevin Denny in Geary Behaviour Centre on 2011-03-20 16:03:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Rowena Pecchenino, 2014. "The Economic Consequences of Despair," Economics Department Working Paper Series n254-14.pdf, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    2. Rowena A Pecchenino, 2017. "To Whom the Spoils?," Economics Department Working Paper Series n288-17.pdf, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    3. Pecchenino, Rowena A., 2015. "Have we cause for despair?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 56-62.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hope; rational choice; goal orientation; expectations; faith;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General

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