The main emphasis of this new book from Luigino Bruni is a praise of heterogeneity, arguing that society works when different people are able to cooperate in many different ways. The author engages in a novel approach to reciprocity looking at its different forms in society, from cautious or contractual interactions, to the reciprocity of friendship to unconditional behaviour.Bruni'ss historical-methodological analysis of reciprocity is a way of examining the interface between political economy and the issue of sociality, generally characterized by 'two hundred years of solitude' of the homo economicus. This historical analysis exposes an absence and this book looks at the reasons why among the many forms of reciprocity present in the civil life economics has chosen to deal just with the simplest ones (contracts and repeated self-interested interactions). The second part of the book is an analysis (with repeated and evolutionary games) of the interactions of the three forms of reciprocity faced with a forth strategy; the non-reciprocity.
Author(s): Luigino Bruni
Series: Routledge Advances in Game Theory
Edition: 1st Ed.
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 158
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 9
Introduction......Page 10
1 The current debate on economics and reciprocity......Page 16
2 Homo oeconomicus’ two hundred years of solitude......Page 28
3 A first form of reciprocity: Cooperation without benevolence......Page 42
4 Reciprocity as philĂa......Page 53
5 Unconditional reciprocity......Page 61
6 Dynamics of reciprocity in a heterogeneous world......Page 74
7 Three is better than two......Page 83
8 In praise of heterogeneity......Page 94
9 Reciprocity is one, but reciprocities are many......Page 101
Appendices......Page 113
Notes......Page 139
Bibliography......Page 164
Index......Page 170
