In The Economics of Rights, Co-operation and Welfare, Robert Sugden sets out to answer a question that lies at the heart of economics and politics: how can individuals coordinate their behaviour in the absence of central law-enforcing agencies? Using the tools of evolutionary game theory, Sugden shows how self-enforcing conventions of property and reciprocity can evolve spontaneously out of the interactions of self-interested individuals. He goes on to argue that such conventions tend to become norms, even if they arbitrarily favour some people relative to others, and even if they do not maximize social welfare. In arguing that such norms are genuinely moral, Sugden challenges prevailing views about social justice. This controversial and influential book was the first sustained attempt to use evolutionary game theory to understand the emergence of conventions and norms. This new edition includes a substantial Afterword which reviews the original arguments in the light of subsequent theoretical developments.

在英国经济学界,乃至当代国际学术界,罗伯特·萨格登(Robert Sugden)均是一位知名度甚高的经济思想家。《权利、合作与福利的经济学》的出版,立即引起了国际学界的广泛关注,从而为萨格登贏得了巨大的学术声誉。直到现在,萨格登一直是国际上引用率最高的10位当代英国经济学家之一。

萨格登教授于1949年4月出生于英国约克郡的小城茂利(Morley)。1970年,他在英国约克大学获学士学位,并于1971年在英国加的夫大学获科学硕士学位。1971年至1978年,萨格登任约克大学经济学讲师,并于1988年获约克大学博士学位。由于他在20世纪70年代和180年代初就在国际上一些主要经济学刊物中发表了不少文章,并与艾伦·威廉姆期(Allan Williams)合作出版了一本《实用成本-收益分析原理》的教科书。从1978年到1985年,他被英国纽卡斯尔大学聘为经济学高级讲师,并自1985年起任英国东安格利亚大学经济学教授。从20世纪90年代起,萨格登教授成了英国皇家经济协会会员和英国科举院院士。