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Robert Sugden

Robert Sugden

Professor of Economics, University of East Anglia

Robert Sugden is Professor of Economics at the University of East Anglia.

He has written about economic methodology, political philosophy, and rational choice theory. (You can find his latest book here (https://www.amazon.com/Community-Advantage-Behavioural-Economists-Defence/dp/0198825145/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=robert%20sugden&qid=1638542786&s=books&sr=1-1).)

He is best known for his development of the credible worlds justification for theoretical economic models, his co-formulation of regret theory, and his critique of libertarian paternalism.

Born: 1949, West Yorkshire, England.

Known For: Credible Worlds; Regret Theory.

Experimental Economics:

N Bardsley, R Cubitt, G Loomes, P Moffatt, C Starmer, R Sugden. Experimental economics: Rethinking the rules. Princeton University Press. (2009)

Education
D.Litt Economics, University of York · MSc Economics, University College, Cardiff · BA History & Economics, University of York
Topics
Theoretical Economics · Philosophy of Economics · Political Philosophy · Economic Methodology · Libertarian Paternalism · Decision-Making Under Uncertainty

Talks & video4

Selected publications27

  1. 2021R Sugden. Hume's experimental psychology and the idea of erroneous preferences. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 183, 836-848 (2021)
  2. 2021R Sugden. The great economist David Hume: A review of Margaret Schabas and Carl Wennerlind,'A Philosopher’s Economist: Hume and the Rise of Capitalism'. Journal of Economic Methodology (2021)
  3. 2021R Sugden. How Hayekian is Sunstein's behavioral economics? Behavioural Public Policy, 1-10 (2021)
  4. 2018R Sugden. ‘Better off, as judged by themselves’: a reply to Cass Sunstein. International Review of Economics 65 (1), 9-13 (2018)
  5. 2017R Sugden. Do people really want to be nudged towards healthy lifestyles? International Review of Economics 64 (2), 113-123 (2017)
  6. 2016G Infante, G Lecouteux, R Sugden. ‘On the Econ within’: a reply to Daniel Hausman. Journal of Economic Methodology 23 (1), 33-37 (2016)
  7. 2013R Sugden. Mary S. Morgan's The world in the model: how economists work and think. Cambridge University Press, 2012, 435 pp. Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics 6 (1), 108-114 (2013)
  8. 2009R Sugden. Can a Humean be a Contractarian? Rationality, Markets and Morals 0, 11-23 (2009)
  9. 2009R Sugden. On Nudging: A Review of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. Routledge 16 (3), 365-373, (2009)
  10. 2009R Sugden. Credible worlds, capacities and mechanisms. Erkenntnis 70 (1), 3-27 (2009)
  11. 2008R Sugden. David Hume’s treatise of human nature. Topoi 27 (1), 153-159 (2008)
  12. 2008R Sugden. Why incoherent preferences do not justify paternalism. Constitutional Political Economy 19 (3), 226-248 (2008)
  13. 2007L Bruni, R Sugden. The road not taken: how psychology was removed from economics, and how it might be brought back. The Economic Journal 117 (516), 146-173 (2007)
  14. 2006R Sugden. Hume's non-instrumental and non-propositional decision theory. Economics & Philosophy 22 (3), 365-391 (2006)
  15. 2005R Sugden. Why rationality is not a consequence of Hume's theory of choice. The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 12 (1), 113-118 (2005).
  16. 2005I Bateman, D Kahneman, A Munro, C Starmer, R Sugden. Testing competing models of loss aversion: An adversarial collaboration. Journal of Public Economics 89 (8), 1561-1580, (2005)
  17. 2000R Sugden. Credible worlds: the status of theoretical models in economics. Journal of Economic Methodology 7:1, 1–31 (2000)
  18. 1993R Sugden. Normative judgments and spontaneous order: The contractarian element in Hayek's thought. Constitutional political economy 4 (3), 393-424 (1993)
  19. 1993R Sugden. An axiomatic foundation for regret theory. Journal of Economic Theory 60 (1), 159-180 (1993)
  20. 1989R Sugden. Spontaneous Order. The Journal of Economic Perspectives. 3 (4), 85-97 (1989)
  21. 1987G Loomes, R Sugden. Some implications of a more general form of regret theory. Journal of Economic Theory 41 (2), 270-287 (1987)
  22. 1987G Loomes, R Sugden. Testing for regret and disappointment in choice under uncertainty. The Economic Journal 97, 118-129 (1987)
  23. 1987C Starmer, R Sugden. Experimental evidence of the impact of regret on choice under uncertainty. University of East Anglia Economics Research Centre (1987)
  24. 1985R Sugden. Regret, recrimination and rationality. Theory and decision 19 (1), 77-99 1985 (1985)
  25. 1984G Loomes, R Sugden. Regret theory and information: A reply. The Economic Journal 94 (375), 649-650 (1984)
  26. 1983G Loomes, R Sugden. Regret theory and measurable utility. Economics Letters 12 (1), 19-21 (1983)
  27. 1982G Loomes, R Sugden. Regret theory: An alternative theory of rational choice under uncertainty. The economic journal 92 (368), 805-824. (1982)

Positions & affiliations3

  • University of East Anglia/ Professor of Economics, University of East Anglia (Jan. 1985 - Present)
  • Reader in Economics, Newcastle University (Sep. 1978 - Mar. 1985)
  • Lecturer in Economics, University of York (Sep. 1971 - Aug. 1978)

Honours & awards1

  • 1996 Elected Fellow of the British Academy