Identity theories in economics: a phenomenological approach

Abstract

After the seminal 2001 paper written by George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton, the field of identity economics has increasingly developed. This paper presents a new approach to the definition of economic agents’ identity, sketching first the conditions required for an appropriate notion regarding the identity of economic agents. Next, it summarizes earlier views outlined by Akerlof and Kranton, Amartya Sen, Miriam Teschl and Alan Kirman, and John B. Davis. Finally, it introduces a phenomenological approach – following E. Husserl’s and K. Wojtyla’s contributions – combining ‘intentionality’, ‘position-takings’ and ‘habitualities’ as constitutive features of the experience of the acting personal self, to provide a satisfactory identity concept for economic agents.