Time: 10:00 AM-11:30 AM, Friday February 6

Location: AB1079

Speaker: Dr. Dingxin Zhao, Dean of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences at Zhejiang University; Max Palevsky Professor Emeritus of the University of Chicago

Abstract

This talk first provides a critical overview of recent developments in the study of human decision-making patterns in behavioral economics, neuroeconomics, and agent-based modeling, and then offers a macro-sociological perspective inspired by an important theory in evolutionary biology — the r/K strategy theory. The talk outlines five patterned relationships between dominant strategies and social contexts, establishing a basic framework for understanding human’s strategic choice. It further explores how the unique characteristics of Homo sapiens have generated increasingly complex patterns in the interaction between human strategic behavior and its environment. The empirical examples are drawn primarily from my observations of the transformations in China’s socioeconomic environment and the corresponding shifts in dominant strategic patterns among the Chinese over the past few decades. Through these cases, I demonstrate the explanatory power and analytical utility of the r/K strategy framework in comparison with other choice theories that currently dominate the social sciences.

Bio

Dingxin Zhao is Dean of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences at Zhejiang University and Max Palevsky Professor Emeritus of the University of Chicago. His research covers historical sociology, methodology, political sociology, social movements, social change and economic development.