Advances in the History of Rhetoric May 2018

From “Incentive Furie” to “Incentives to Efficiency,” or the Movement of “Incentive” in Neoclassical Thought

Robert McDonald

Abstract

ABSTRACT Incentives, economists remind us, are foundational to any economy: They include strategies to induce consumers to purchase products, motivate employees to work harder, or invite businesses to new localities. This textbook term, however, has not always been yoked to economic activity per se. This essay traces the history of the term “incentive” in two phases, first, from its origin in the Latin term “incentivum,” referring to “the thing that sets the tune,” and second, from its uptake and concretization by neoclassical economic thought through Jeremy Bentham, Alfred Marshall, and Paul Samuelson. In neoclassical economics, incentives “set the tune” of behavior by compelling rational economic action through the postulates of methodological individualism, equilibration, and utility-maximization. The terminological shift of “incentive” from its poetic origins into economic thought entails that “incentives” become an objective, univocal “thing” that embeds an argument about the dangers of actions that contravene market logics.

Journal
Advances in the History of Rhetoric
Published
2018-05-04
DOI
10.1080/15362426.2018.1474045
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Topics
genre theory race and writing multilingual writers

Citation Context

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Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
  1. Arnsperger (2006)
    What Is Neoclassical Economics? The Three Axioms Responsible for its Theoretical Œuvre, P…
    Panœconomicus  ↗
  2. Bentham (1789)
    An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
     ↗
  3. Bernstein (2001)
    A Perilous Progress: Economists and Public Purpose in Twentieth-Century America
     ↗
  4. Davis (2003)
    The Theory of the Individual in Economics: Identity and Value
     ↗
  5. Fine (2009)
    Routledge
    From Economics Imperialism to Freakonomics: The Shifting Boundaries between Economics and Other Social Sciences  ↗
  6. McKenzie (1998)
    Managing through Incentives: How to Develop a More Collaborative, Productive, and Profita…
     ↗
  7. Mirowski (1991)
    The When, the How and the Why of Mathematical Expression in the History of Economics Analysis
    Journal of Economic Perspectives  ↗
  8. Nelson (1986)
    Rhetoric of Inquiry: Projects and Prospects
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  ↗
  9. Peters (1999)
    Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network →

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