What a difference twenty years have made! Back in 1998, behavioral economics was still mostly an idea waiting to happen. Yes, a few seminal contributions had planted the seeds for the field, such as Kahneman and Tversky’s work on decision heuristics and prospect theory and Richard Thaler’s insights concerning mental accounting, self-control, and behavioral finance. Yes, in 1997 the Quarterly Journal of Economics published a special issue dedicated to behavioral economics in memory of Amos Tversky’s passing. Yet for young scholars, the path to becoming a behavioral economist remained an obscure one, offering dubious value. Most top universities did not offer classes in the area, except occasionally on a one-off basis. Most mainstream economists viewed the field with skepticism if not outright suspicion. Attempting to build a career as a behavioral economist was a highly risky proposition.

二十年来发生了多大的变化！早在1998年，行为经济学基本上还是一个有待实现的想法。是的，一些开创性的贡献已经为这个领域埋下了种子，比如Kahneman和Tversky关于决策启发和前景理论的工作，以及Richard Thaler关于心理会计、自我控制和行为金融学的见解。是的，1997年《经济学季刊》出版了一期行为经济学专刊，以纪念阿莫斯·特沃斯基的逝世。然而对于年轻的学者来说，成为行为经济学家的道路仍然是一条晦涩难懂的道路，其价值令人怀疑。大多数顶尖大学都不在这一领域开设课程，只是偶尔会一次性开设。大多数主流经济学家对这个领域持怀疑态度，如果不是完全怀疑的话。试图建立一个行为经济学家的职业生涯是一个高风险的提议。