Identity Economics : How Our Identities Shape Our Work, Wages, and Well-Being

One of Bloomberg News's (bloomberg.com/news) Top Thirty Business Books of the Year for 2010
Honorable Mention for the 2010 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers
"Akerlof . . . and Kranton . . . explore the links between our identities and the everyday decisions we make about earning and spending money. Their goal is to add a more personal touch to economics."--New York Times

"There is no question monetary incentives are important--indeed critical--but it is important also to consider other meaningful ways to motivate and engage work forces. In a recent book by George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton, Identity Economics, the authors document how people in exceptional organizations work well because they identify with the values and the culture, not simply the financial rewards."--Al Gore and David Blood, Wall Street Journal

"[A]n important new book. . . . Professor Akerlof and Rachel Kranton have invented Identity Economics."--Daniel Finkelstein, The Times

"Identity Economics is a popular account of work that will already be familiar to economists who have read the authors' journal articles. It is admirably short, written in a clear, nontechnical style but without the condescending breeziness of many books aimed at the airport market. Nonspecialist readers will find a lot of insightful and well-informed analysis of how issues of identity have an impact on real economic problems."--Robert Sugden, Science

"The authors make a compelling case that the group with which individuals identify shapes their decisions about schooling, work, savings, investment, and retirement. This paradigm offers better ways of understanding the consequences of public policies and business practices. . . . Identity Economics provides a new language and a useful apparatus to take measure of 'real people in real situations.'"--Barron's

"Business managers, economists, policy makers, and school administrators will all gain fresh insights into similar enigmas that confront them if they bear the book's message in mind: identity matters."--ForeWord

"[A] lucid look at how social considerations carry economic consequences. . . . The authors use the word 'identity' as shorthand for the way people divide themselves into social groups, each of which--like high-school Jocks and Burnouts--has a sense of how to behave."--James Pressley, Bloomberg News

"The essence of the book is to place social contexts at the heart of an individual's decision-making. Tastes vary with social context, and concepts such as identity and norms influence the outcome."--Mint

"This is a completely new idea, which, in essence, says that one effect of being in an increasingly liberal and affluent society is that aspects of identity that previously didn't seem to matter much to economists are consciously influencing our behaviour."--Trevor Phillips, Prospect