Workshop on the Applications of Quantum Formalism to Behavioural Economics

The application of quantum mechanics to the social sciences has led to useful insights, especially in the areas of experimental decision-making and behavioral economics. A few years ago, the Fields Institute hosted a workshop on this topic entitled ‘Quantum Probability and the Mathematical Modelling of Decision Making’. In this forthcoming workshop we ask ourselves a fundamental question: what is the key tenet, which rationalizes why quantum theory in social science and especially in social choice and decision-making can be used? This is a central question which has not been previously answered. The concept of ‘unicity’ essentially indicates that a single framework can describe all observed events. However, in decision-making there is no reason to believe there is only one framework, which can capture all events. It was recently discovered that the impossibility of finding a single framework to describe all observed events is the same as the paradox of social choice. Hence, the close connection between economics and quantum theory and this workshop will bring together experts from physics, social sciences and different backgrounds to address this close connection.