Adam Smith’s Modeling of Agents: Roots versus Consequences of Action

Authors

Vernon L. Smith, Chapman UniversityFollow
Sabiou M. Inoua, Chapman UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-4-2025

Abstract

Adam Smith founded his investigations of economic and social exchanges on the roots of human action (sympathy, need, self-interest), unlike the utilitarians (Hume and the neoclassical economists), who centered theirs on the consequences of human action (pleasure, utility of outcome). This distinction is key to understanding the contrast between the two schools of thought, as we emphasize in this chapter.

Comments

This chapter was originally published in Applied and theoretical econometrics and financial crises, edited by Brian William Sloboda and Chee-Heong Quah, in 2025. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.1010904

Recommended Citation

L. Smith, V., & M. Inoua, S. (2025). Adam Smith’s modeling of agents: Roots versus consequences of action. In: Brian William Sloboda & Chee-Heong Quah (Eds.), Applied and theoretical econometrics and financial crises. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.1010904

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The authors

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.