Do violations of classical rationality theory imply that agents are acting against their self-interest? To answer this question, we investigate whether completeness and transitivity necessarily hold when agents choose outcome rationally—that is, their choice sequences do not lead to dominated outcomes. We show that, because of the danger of money pumps and other manipulations, outcome rationali...

The rational choice literature on religion has been noticeably silent on the nature and purpose of religious authority. I first summarize the rational choice theory of authority and offer a rational choice definition of religious authority. A primary insight is that (religious) authority exists to coordinate social action. I then argue that social coordination is a fundamental aspect of religio...

This paper argues that it is premature to judge the weaknesses and strengths of the rational choice approach without more clearly defining what it means. Looking broadly across the social sciences, one finds that while rational choice is present all major disciplines, the forms that it takes across and within disciplines are various and often contradictory. In particular, these different versio...

London Business School · Regent’s Park · London NW1 4SA · UK · [email protected] January 3, 2012. Abstract. I consider a two-candidate election in which there is aggregate uncertainty about the popularity of each candidate, where voting is costly, and where participants are instrumentally motivated. The unique equilibrium predicts substantial turnout under reasonable conditions, and greater tur...

Few methodological issues are more stubborn than the status of rational choice theory (henceforth, RCT): the debates surrounding it are approximately five decades old with no end in sight. Fifty years are a long time not only in the life of any human being but also in the progress of a discipline so it is remarkable that the discussion is not closer to a conclusion now than what it was at its i...

Among schools of thought in comparative research, Rational Choice Theory (RCT) is both the most systematic and the most contested. RCT lacks a “classical” foundation but offfers a clear internal theory structure. The rationality assumption contains an unquestioned heuristic aspect, although the determinants of choice (especially preferences) lack a universally accepted solution. The choice aspe...

Jolls, Sunstein, and Thaler wish to use the insights of behavioral economics to improve economic analysis of law, which they believe to be handicapped by its commitment to the assumption that people are rational.1 The editors of the Review have asked me to comment on JST's paper, no doubt because of my identification with rational-choice economics. Since JST complain with some justice that econ...

The value of rational choice theory for the social sciences has been long debated. Such rational choice theory involves a theory of behaviour based on the assumption that individuals are acting, or acting as if, to maximise their utility. The critique developed here focuses on the universality and unfalsifiability of the rational choice approach. In principle it can be adapted to fit any form o...

Article history: Received 24 October 2008 Received in revised form 8 May 2009 Accepted 11 May 2009 Available online 30 May 2009

The paper presents an extended version of the standard textbook problem of consumer choice. As usual, agents have to decide about their desired quantities of various consumption goods, at the same time taking into account their limited budget. Prices for the goods are not fixed but arise from a Walrasian interaction of total demand and a stylized supply function for each of the goods. After sho...