80Nobel Lecture The Economic Way of Looking at Beh

NobelLecture:TheEconomicWayofLookingatBehaviorAuthor(s):GaryS.BeckerSource:TheJournalofPoliticalEconomy,Vol.101,No.3(Jun.,1993),pp.385-409Publishedby:TheUniversityofChicagoPressStableURL::18/11/201000:29YouruseoftheJSTORarchiveindicatesyouracceptanceofJSTOR'sTermsandConditionsofUse,availableat://=ucpress.EachcopyofanypartofaJSTORtransmissionmustcontainthesamecopyrightnoticethatappearsonthescreenorprintedpageofsuchtransmission.JSTORisanot-for-profitservicethathelpsscholars,researchers,andstudentsdiscover,use,andbuilduponawiderangeofcontentinatrusteddigitalarchive.Weuseinformationtechnologyandtoolstoincreaseproductivityandfacilitatenewformsofscholarship.FormoreinformationaboutJSTOR,[e-mail]essiscollaboratingwithJSTORtodigitize,preserveandextendaccesstoTheJournalofPoliticalEconomy.[JournalofPoliticalEconomy,1993,vol.101,no.3]?1992byTheNobelFoundation385386JOURNALOFPOLITICALECONOMYTheanalysisassumesthatindividualsmaximizewelfareastheycon-ceiveit,whethertheybeselfish,altruistic,loyal,spiteful,ormasochis-tic.Theirbehaviorisforward-looking,anditisalsoassumedtobeconsistentovertime.Inparticular,theytryasbesttheycantoantici-patetheuncertainconsequencesoftheiractions.Forward-lookingbehavior,however,maystillberootedinthepast,forthepastcanexertalongshadowonattitudesandvalues.Actionsareconstrainedbyincome,time,imperfectmemoryandcalculatingcapacities,andotherlimitedresources,andalsobytheopportunitiesavailableintheeconomyandelsewhere.Theseoppor-tunitiesarelargelydeterminedbytheprivateandcollectiveactionsofotherindividualsandorganizations.Differentconstraintsaredecisivefordifferentsituations,butthemostfundamentalconstraintislimitedtime.Economicandmedicalprogresshavegreatlyincreasedlengthoflife,butnotthephysicalflowoftimeitself,whichalwaysrestrictseveryoneto24hoursperday.Sowhilegoodsandserviceshaveexpandedenormouslyinrichcountries,thetotaltimeavailabletoconsumehasnot.Thuswantsremainunsatisfiedinrichcountriesaswellasinpoorones.Forwhilethegrowingabundanceofgoodsmayreducethevalueofadditionalgoods,timebecomesmorevaluableasgoodsbe-comemoreabundant.Thewelfareofpeoplecannotbeimprovedinautopiainwhicheveryone'sneedsarefullysatisfied,buttheconstantflowoftimemakessuchautopiaimpossible.Thesearesomeoftheissuesanalyzedintheliteratureontimeallocation(fortwoearlystud-ies,seeBecker[1965]andLinder[1970]).Thefollowingsectionsillustratetheeconomicapproachwithfourverydifferentsubjects.Tounderstanddiscriminationagainstminori-ties,itisnecessarytowidenpreferencestoaccommodateprejudiceandhatredofparticulargroups.Theeconomicanalysisofcrimein-corporatesintorationalbehaviorillegalandotherantisocialactions.Thehumancapitalperspectiveconsidershowtheproductivityofpeo-pleinmarketandnonmarketsituationsischangedbyinvestmentsineducation,skills,andknowledge.Theeconomicapproachtothefam-ilyinterpretsmarriage,divorce,fertility,andrelationsamongfamilymembersthrou