Epistemology of Economics: Kirman (1992) Representative Individual

Next session we will discuss a paper by Alan Kirman (1992). The author analyses the epistemological shortcomings of representative agents for macroeconomic analysis. Kirman (1992) argues that *" […]well-behaved individuals need not produce a well-behaved representative agent; that the reaction of a representative agent to change need not reflect how the individuals of the economy would respond to change; that the preferences of a representative agent over choices may be diametrically opposed to those of society as a whole[…]."*

Paper: Alan Kirman (1992). Whom or What does the Representative Individual Represent? Journal of Economic Perspectives
Link to the paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D-3EFiIG0qtfHGtzfqibcsX6KVd2Xgt7/view?usp=sharing
Date: 13. May 2020, 18:00 (CEST, Berlin)

Besides, it is mandatory to read the paper, since the discussion will be based on the paper assigned to each reading session.

Structure: First 30 minutes we will discuss key points from the paper. Then, we will move on to elaborate, criticize or analyze the ideas stated and try to connect the reading to the overall picture of the reading group.

Please do join us if you are interested.

Looking forward to having a fruitful debate related to the complex sys!