Association Lecture Subjective Outcomes in Economics

This study examines the various uses of subjective outcomes as a focus of interest for economists. It outlines the possible channels by which economists can usefully add to what is already a massive literature on such outcomes in the other social sciences. Generally, we contribute little if we merely engage in fancier empirical work and still less if we describe subjective outcomes by other subjective outcomes. Our biggest contributions can be in adducing economic theories that allow a better understanding of objective behavior using subjective outcomes, or of the determinants of subjective outcomes, or in understanding subjective outcomes, such as expectations, that underlie objective economic behavior.