Carlos Rodriguez-Sickert. Entry prepared for the Handbook of Economics & Ethics, Edited by Peil, Jan and Irene Van Staveren, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009.

ABSTRACT

Homo economicus or economic man is an individual that acts so as to maximize his well-being given the constraints he faces. Homo economicus is the prevalent model of human behavior among economists, and has also permeated other social sciences through so called rational choice theory.