Abstract

Neuroeconomics is a new highly promising approach to understanding the neurobiology of decision making and how it affects cognitive social interactions between humans and societies/economies. This book is the first edited reference to examine the science behind neuroeconomics, including how it influences human behavior and societal decision making from a behavioral economics point of view. Presenting a truly interdisciplinary approach, Neuroeconomics presents research from neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics, and includes chapters by all the major figures in the field, including two Economics Nobel laureates.
* An authoritative reference written and edited by acknowledged experts and founders of the field
* Presents an interdisciplinary view of the approaches, concepts, and results of the emerging field of neuroeconomics relevant for anyone interested in this area of research
* Full-color presentation throughout with carefully selected illustrations to highlight key concepts

"Neuroeconomics is a large, beautifully produced and ambitious book that aims to be to for this emerging field what Gazzaniga’s The Cognitive Neurosciences is for the emerged one. It offers essays on the history of the discipline; reflections on whether (and what, and why) it offers anything of unique value to science; and reports of cutting-edge research in a number of areas including: the neural mechanisms of choice, valuation and social decision-making; the evolutionary origins of economic behavior; and the various ways of using neuroscience data to adjudicate between competing theories in behavioral economics."–Journal of Economic Psychology (Feb 2010)

'Neuroeconomics is a timely collection of papers by leading researchers from both sides of the border between economics and neuroscience. The papers reflect a high level of focused communication between scholars in fields that until recently studied decision-making at different levels using different methods, with little fruitful interaction. The book should be of interest to anyone who would like to know how a deeper understanding of process can enrich and refine economic theories of decision-making; to anyone who would like to know how economic theory can inform research in neuroscience; or simply to anyone who has ever wondered about the mechanics of how decisions are made in the brain, and what it means about human nature.' – Vince Crawford, Distinguished Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego, USA

'Neuroeconomics: Decision Making and the Brain is a landmark publication in the rapidly expanding field of neuroeconomics. The list of contributors is exceptional.  The content is completely up to date and forward looking.  For the foreseeable future, this will be the standard reference for newcomers and experienced researchers alike.' – David Laibson, Professor of Economics, Harvard University, USA

'Economists pride themselves of rigorous parsimony. By taking the neural correlates of behavior into account, potentially explanatory variables explode. This book shows when digging deeper nonetheless pays for economics, and how to do it well.' - Christoph Engel, Director, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany

'This collection of chapters on neuroeconomics provides an integrated introduction to how brains compute value, make choices, interact socially and collectively create economics. Neuroeconomics is also a fascinating story of how a new paradigm emerged from the collision of two parent disciplines and is continuing to evolve in often surprising directions.' - Terrence Sejnowski, Professor and Director, Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, University of California, San Diego, USA

'For those onlookers who can't quite accept that neuroscience may provide insight into how we decide what course of action to follow, the contributors to this comprehensive volume offer some very compelling, and very serious experimental and theoretical insights. Highly recommended, and enormously provocative.' - Floyd Bloom, Professor Emeritus, Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience Department, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA

'Paul Glimcher is one of the founders of and most distinguished contributors to the emerging science of neuroeconomics. He has edited a volume that offers a clear view into the brains of some of the field's most active investigators.' – Alvin E. Roth, George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration, Harvard University, USA