Abstract
What is the model of the individual that we have in mind when we talk about public managers, civil servants, bureaucrats and public administration? What are the ontological traits of these models? We explore the micro-foundations of administrative behaviour by mobilizing different complementary disciplines. In our narrative of micro-foundations, we encounter varieties of the homo oeconomics, from full rationality to bounded rationality, the homo discentis who learns inferentially, and the homo emotionalis. We wrap up the insights of these micro-foundations to carve out the traits of the homo faber, and discuss some implications for public management and administrative reforms. This article is a preprint.
Keywords
Micro-foundations, Rationality, Learning, Behaviour, Emotions