Economic man - a brief description. Economic man model

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

The economic behavior of an individual and a group of people in the market creates demand. For the financial result of the seller, it is very important to predict the volume of demand in the future in a timely manner and determine the list of the main factors that may affect it. That is why it is necessary to deal with the concept of the "model of economic man" and, having connected psychological and social aspects to economic ones, begin to use this knowledge in practice. They are relevant both for enterprises operating on the market from the supply side, and for ordinary people, who together provide market demand.

"Homo"-modeling or who are we?

Economists have long wondered how a person makes a choice, what guides and how he ranks his priorities. With the development of market relations, man himself has evolved. Let's remember the species we know"homo".

Human models from the point of view of biology or Homo biologicus:

• Homo habilis or a skilled person who learned to make fire and create tools;
• Homo erectus or an upright man, stood up on both feet, freeing his hands;
• Homo sapiens or a reasonable person, has gained the ability of articulate speech and non-standard thinking.

Evolution of people from the position of the type of activity and causal being, rich in events, or Homo eventus:

• Homo economicus or an economic person guided in his behavior by aspects of rationality and achieving the maximum possible benefit in conditions of limited economic resources;
• Homo sociologicus or a social person seeking to communicate with other people and assert their role in society;
• Homo politicus or a political person motivated to increase his authority and achieve power through state institutions;
• Homo religiosus or a religious person who determines the support in his life and the main motive of the "word of God" and the support of higher powers.

A brief description of the presented simplified models of the event type shows the system of human priorities and explains the motives of his behavior in a particular environment - economic, political, social, religious. Each individual can be a person"different" depending on the coordinate system, that is, the environment in which it operates and is identified.

It is interesting to compare the first two event models of people: an economic person is individual, a social person is too collective and dependent on society. The world adapts to the needs of the economic man, which is reflected in the law of supply and demand, and the social man himself adapts to the social tendencies of the world in order to avoid his separation from the crowd.

Rationality as the basis of profitability

Modeling involves a certain system of assumptions, so a person in economic relations has rationality, that is, is able to make the right decision in the proposed conditions. The following factors influence human rationality:

• availability of information on prices and production volumes;
• human awareness of the main parameters of choice;
• high level of intelligence and sufficient human competence in making economic choices;
• man makes decisions under perfect competition.

The ratio of the above assumptions leads to the fact that rationality can be of three types:

1. Complete, which assumes a person's comprehensive awareness of the state of the market and his ability to make a decision, getting the maximum benefit at a minimum cost.
2. Limited, which implies a lack of complete information and an insufficient level of human competence, as a result of which, heseeks not to maximize benefits, but simply to meet urgent needs in ways acceptable to itself.
3. Organic rationality complicates the model of an economic person by introducing additional variables that influence his behavior: legal prohibitions, traditional and cultural restrictions, social parameters of choice.

Representations of a person as a rational subject with his own needs and motives have evolved along with economic schools. Currently, there are four main models of a person. They differ:

1. The degree of abstraction from the variety of social, psychological, cultural and other aspects of a person's personality.
2. Features of the environment, that is, the economic and political situation around a person.

I. Model of economic man - materialist

For the first time the concept of "Homo economicus" was introduced in the 18th century as part of the teachings of the English classical school, and later it migrated to the teachings of marginalists and neoclassicals. The essence of the model is that a person seeks to maximize the utility of the acquired goods within the framework of limited resources, the main of which is his income. Thus, at the center of the model are money and the individual's desire for enrichment. An economic person is able to evaluate all the benefits, assigning value and utility to each for himself, because when choosing, he is guided only by his own interests, remaining indifferent to the needs of others.people.

In this model, A. Smith's "invisible hand" of the market actively manifests itself. People in their activities proceed solely from their own interests: the consumer seeks to purchase the highest quality product, and the manufacturer seeks to offer the market such a product in order to satisfy demand and get the greatest profit. People, acting for selfish purposes, work for the common good.

II. Model of an economic man - a materialist with limited rationality

Followers of J. M. Keynes, as well as institutionalism, admitted that human behavior is influenced not only by the desire for material we alth, but also by a number of socio-psychological factors. A brief description of the first model allows us to conclude that a person is at the basic levels of A. Maslow's pyramid of needs. The second model moves a person to higher levels, leaving priority to the material side of being.

In order to maintain this model of a person in an equilibrium state, adequate intervention from the state is required.

III. Model of economic man - collectivist

In the system of paternalism, where the state assumes the role of a shepherd, automatically transferring the people to the position of herd sheep, the economic person also changes. His choice is no longer limited simply by internal factors, but by external conditions. The state decides the fate of a person, sending them to study through distribution, attaching them to a specific job, offering only specificgoods and services. Lack of competition and personal interest in the results of labor leads to dishonesty, dependency and forced stay of a person at the lower levels of the pyramid of needs, when one has to be content with little and not strive for the best.

IV. Model of economic man - idealist

In this model, a feeling economic person appears: the concepts of rationality and benefits for him are refracted through the prism of higher spiritual needs. As a result, it may be more important for an individual not the amount of wages, but the degree of satisfaction from his work, the importance of his activities for society, the complexity of work and the level of self-esteem.

The fundamental difference from previous models allows us to say that a new economic person has appeared, thinking and feeling equally, distributing priorities in accordance with his internal state.

Here the individual has a full range of needs from basic physical to higher spiritual, the most important of which is the need for self-realization. A person is a complex model, his behavior depends on many factors that can only be predicted with a certain degree of error.

Psychological aspects of the behavior of an economic person

All human economic problems are related to choice in conditions of limited resources. And this choice is greatly influenced by psychological factors. If againReferring to the pyramid of needs mentioned above, one can see what is the role of non-material factors in human behavior. The pyramid includes the following levels:

• First (basic) - physiological needs for housing, food and drink, sexual satisfaction, rest;
• Second - the need for security on the physiological and psychological level, the confidence that basic needs will be satisfied in the future;
• Third - social needs: to exist harmoniously in society, to be involved in any social group of people;
• Fourth - the need for respect, to achieve success, to stand out from society on the basis of competency;
• Fifth - the need for knowledge, learning new things and applying knowledge in practice;
• Sixth - aesthetic needs for harmony, beauty and order;
• Seventh - the need for self-expression, the full realization of one's abilities and capabilities.

Man and society

The manifestation of the social component in human behavior can significantly affect the economy, breaking the usual ideas about the interaction of supply and demand. For example, such a phenomenon as fashion involves bringing certain trendy products into an increased price range, distorting the ratio of price and quality.

Luxury goods are always in demand, but the purpose of purchasing this category of goods is not to satisfy the vitalimportant needs, but to maintain the status of the individual, to increase his self-esteem.

A person is a social subject, therefore he always acts in accordance with or contrary to the opinions of others. Therefore, a socio-economic person has appeared in the modern world, who also makes a choice in conditions of limited resources, but with an eye to his psychological needs and the reaction of society.

The manifestation of "economic man" in modern people

Let's consider an example of an economic person, solving a household problem.

Problem: Suppose the economist Ivanov earns 100 rubles. at one o'clock. If you buy fruit on the market for 80 rubles. per kilogram, it takes an hour to go around the market, choose the best product and stand in line. The store sells fruits of good quality and without queues, but at a price of 120 rubles. per kilo.

Question: At what volume of purchases is it advisable for Ivanov to go to the market?

Decision: Ivanov has the opportunity cost of his time. If he spends it on office work, he will receive 100 rubles. That is, in order to rationally spend this hour on a trip to the market, savings on the price difference should be at least 100 rubles. Therefore, expressing the volume of purchase in terms of X, the total cost of fruit sold in the market will be:

80X + 100 < 120X

40X > 100

X > 2.5kg.

Conclusion: It is rational for economist Ivanov to buy cheaper fruits on the market in excess of 2.5 kg. If you need less fruit, then it is more rational to buy them in the store.

Modern economic man is rational, he intuitively or consciously assigns a certain price to everything and chooses from alternative options the one that suits him the most. At the same time, he is guided by all possible factors: monetary, social, psychological, cultural, etc.

So economic man…

Let's single out the main characteristics inherent in the modern economic person (CH):

1. The resources that are at the disposal of the EC are always limited, while some of them are renewable, while others are not. Resources include:

• natural;
• material;
• labor;
• temporary;
• informational.

2. EC always makes a choice in a rectilinear coordinate system with two variables: preferences and constraints. Preferences are formed on the basis of a person's needs, aspirations and desires, and restrictions are based on the amount of resources available to the individual. Interestingly, as opportunities rise, human needs rise as well.

3. EC sees alternative choices, is able to evaluate and compare them with each other.

4. When choosing an EC, he is guided solely by his own interests, but family members, friends, close people can fall into his zone of influence, whose interests will be perceived by a person almost on an equal footing with his own. His interests maybe formed under the influence of the whole variety of factors, not only material ones.

5. The interaction between socio-economic people with their own interests takes the form of an exchange.

6. The choice of ES is always rational, but due to limited resources, including information, the individual chooses from the known alternatives the one that is most preferable for him.

7. EC can make mistakes, but his misses are random.

Studying an economic person, his motives for action, his system of values and preferences, as well as the limitations of choice, will allow you to better understand yourself as a full-fledged subject of socio-economic relations. The main thing is that people become a little more literate in economic matters and make fewer mistakes, systematically improving the quality of life.