Prospect Theory and Political Science
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6232874 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jonathan Mercer (University of Washington, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-21 |
| Publication date | 2005-06-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Annual Review of Political Science (BOOK_SERIES) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1094-2939 • E-ISSN: 1545-1577 |
| Publisher | Annual Reviews (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1146/annurev.polisci.8.082103.104911 |
| OpenAlex | W2096604669 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 136 |
| References cited | 84 |
Prospect theory is the most influential behavioral theory of choice in the social sciences. Its creators won a Nobel Prize in economics, and it is largely responsible for the booming field of behavioral economics. Although international relations theorists who study security have used prospect theory extensively, Americanists, comparativists, and political economists have shown little interest in it. The dominant explanation for political scientists' tepid response focuses on the theoretical problems with extending a theory devised in the lab to explain political decisions in the field. This essay focuses on these problems and reviews suggested solutions. It suggests that prospect theory's failure to ignite the imagination of more political scientists probably results from their aversion to behavioral assumptions and not from problems unique to prospect theory
Behavioral economics · Economics · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Microeconomics · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Prospect theory · Social science · Sociology · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Game Theory and Applications · Law · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence
Psychology and Constructivism in International Relations
Game Theory, Diplomatic History and Security Studies
Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy
The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour
A General Explanation of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cognitive Approaches to Foreign Policy Analysis
Claiming Blame and Giving Credit
Why Institutions Are Not the Only Thing That Matters
Vicious circle of Ethiopian politics
Iran’s Nuclear Policy
Making choices in addressing sustainability problems
Prospect theory in multiple price list experiments
Governing Migration Beyond the State
Managing Uncertainty in Crisis
On Resilience
Segregation by Design
An Investigation of the Association Between Behavioral Economics and Financial Behavior
Deciding on secession
Is it information or predispositions? Measuring the long-term effect of information on opinion formation about new energy technologies in Switzerland
Race over Riches
District Protectionism
Hard Thinking about Hard and Easy Cases in Security Studies
Decision-Making under Risk
Loss Aversion and Preferences in Interaction
Substitute to War
Does Reputation Matter? Explaining China’s Evolving Strategy in South China Sea Disputes
Acceptance through inclusion? Political and economic participation and the acceptance of local renewable energy projects in Switzerland
Leveraging towards restraint
Conditional Relationships Between Drought and Civil Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa
Following START
Don't Mention the War versus Escalating Commitment
Presidential Personality
David versus Goliath
Determining Support for Humanitarian Interventions
Wizards under Uncertainty
Thinking Outside the Box? Applying Design Theory to Public Policy
Voting against in the 2017 French presidential election
From ‘shelving sovereignty’ to ‘regularized patrol’
The Promise of Historical Sociology in International Relations
New Directions for IPE
Lindblom’s lament
Human nature and the first image
Decision-Making Meets Negotiation
Tertium datur
Prospect theory, mitigation and adaptation to climate change
Prospect theory and foreign policy decision-making
Social science and policy
Personal Retirement Accounts & the American Welfare State
Experiencing Psychological Processes and Understanding Their Implications
Prospect theory and presidential elections
The importance of socio-economic and political losses and gains in welfare state reform
Leadership, regime security, and China's policy toward Taiwan
Explaining Russia’s war against Ukraine
Do military decision makers behave as predicted by prospect theory
Gender, risk assessment, and political ambition
Situational Gamblers
The Politics of Welfare State Retrenchment
Absolute and relative power gains among state agencies in forest-related land use politics
Bad news is bad news
Sadat and the Road to Jerusalem
Bad World
Two kinds of catastrophe
Unraveling authoritarian reform decision‐making
Homelands and Nationalism
Maximizing Utility or Avoiding Losses? Uncovering Decision Rule-Heterogeneity in Sociological Research with an Application to Neighbourhood Choice
Loss Aversion and Risk Aversion in Wagering on Jeopardy! ’s “Daily Double”
Workers without Power
The Illusion of Unitary Players and the Fallacy of Geopolitical Rivalry
Producción y percepción de bienes públicos en la lógica de la acción colectiva
Explaining Decision‐making in Government
Education and Voter Response to Principled Trade-Offs in Muslim Democracies
Power and Risk in Foreign Policy
Exploring the eternal struggle
Return Migration to India
Communication and Voting in Multi‐party Elections
The Politics of Welfare State Reform in the Netherlands
When risky decisions are not surprising
Explaining Germany’s Position on European Banking Union
Claiming blame and giving credit? Unintended effects of how government and opposition frame the Europeanization of welfare
Personality’s effect on European identification
Decision Biases and Heuristics Among Emergency Managers
Public Management of Health Expenditures in Response to Covid‐19 and Traditional Infectious Diseases
From contest to convergence in East Asia
High Courts, Endowments, and Support for Institutional Change
Desperate Needs, Desperate Deeds
On the Evolutionary Origin of Prospect Theory Preferences
Timely Decisions
Loss Framing in Territorial Disputes
Strategic Re‐framing as a Vote Winner
The Dynamics of Electoral Integrity
Prospect Theory and Political Decision Making
Institutional Prospects
Loss Aversion and Foreign Policy Resolve
Distinctive Preferences Toward Risk in the Substantive Domain of Sociality
Do Politicians Take Risks Like the Rest of Us? An Experimental Test of Prospect Theory Under MPs
News, Politics, and Negativity
Critical Race Theory and Asymmetric Mobilization
Policy Perspectives on National Security and Foreign Policy Decision Making
A Two‐Tiered Method for Identifying Trends in Media Framing of Policy Issues
Factors affecting relief aid policy of local governments – electoral competitiveness, fiscal capacity, and severity of crisis
The strategy of rhetoric
Dominoes and Bandwagons
Justice and the Genesis of War
War and Punishment
Analogies at War
Choices, Values, and Frames
Optimal Imperfection?
A perspective on psychology and economics
Constructivist and Ecological Rationality in Economics
Gambling with the House Money and Trying to Break Even
Rationality
On narrow norms and vague heuristics
Judgment under Uncertainty
Prospect Theory
Against All Enemies - Inside America's War On Terror
Dismantling the Welfare State?
Balancing Risks
Painful Choices
The Politics of Market Reform in Fragile Democracies
The origins and function of the reference point in risky group decision making the case of the Cuban missile crisis
Deep thoughts and shallow frames
Hawk Engagement and Preventive Defense on the Korean Peninsula
Threats and Promises
Beyond Deterrence
Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem
Against All Enemies
The laws of emotion
China's New Nationalism
Roosevelt and the Munich crisis
Political Implications of Loss Aversion
Prospect Theory in Political Science
The Implications of Prospect Theory for Human Nature and Values
Deterrence, Compellence, and Prospect Theory
Roosevelt and the Munich Crisis
Framing and the Role of the Second Actor
Crossing No Man's Land
Collective Action Meets Prospect Theory
Large Costs, Small Benefits
The Prospects for Prospect Theory
Prospect Theory and International Relations
The Feeling of Rationality
The Psychological Ideas of Amos Tversky and Their Relevance for Political Science
A Cross-Cultural Exploration of the Reference Dependence of Crucial Group Decisions under Risk
Who Takes Risks
Prospect Theory, Rational Choice, and International Relations
Prospect Theory and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Rational Appeasement
Realism in the Study of World Politics
Rationality in International Relations
Rationality and Psychology in International Politics
Experimentalmethods Inpoliticalscience
International Co-Operation and Loss Avoidance
Avoiding and Incurring Losses
Choosing to Co-Operate
The Political Foundations of Multilateral Economic Surveillance
The Politics and Psychology of Restraint
Framing the Japan Problem
Co-Developing the FSX Fighter
The Gains Debate
The Political Economy of Group Membership
War and Misperception
Verbal behavior
The Passions and the Interests
| Unique citing works | 136 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6,48 |
| Citation span | 2005 - 2026 (22) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 136 |