Having thus introduced the papers collectively, let me also say something about them individually, thereby giving some sense for which kinds of economists might find which papers especially interesting. Akerlof and Kranton’s paper has clear links to both labor economics and organizational economics, and also more broadly to behavioral economics. Indeed, as Akerlof and Kranton recognize, once we contemplate identity as a complement to the standard economic model of single-person decision-making, several questions naturally arise, including: when is decision-making governed by the standard model versus by identity (March’s (1994) “logic of consequences” versus “logic of appropriateness”); how do others perceive.
