This analysis reflected Becker’s deep belief in the power of incentives to lead people, in pursuit of their own interest and interacting within and outside markets, to achieve great things with minimal government input. In this sense, he was very much in the tradition of the great eighteenth-century Scottish economist Adam Smith, whose writings Becker regarded as one of the greatest influences on his career.
这一分析反映出贝克尔对激励的深刻信念，他相信激励的力量能让人们在追求自身利益和市场内外的互动中产生重大成果，并且只需要最低限度的政府投入。在这方面，他与伟大的十七世纪苏格兰经济学家亚当·斯密英雄所见略同，斯密的著作也被贝克尔认为是对自己职业生涯影响最大的。