The Limits of Rationality.

By: Cook, Karen SchweersContributor(s): Levi, MargaretMaterial type: TextTextPublisher: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1990Copyright date: ©1990Description: 1 online resource (437 pages)Content type: text Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9780226742410Subject(s): Decision making | Reasoning | Social change | Social choiceGenre/Form: Electronic books.Additional physical formats: Print version:: The Limits of RationalityDDC classification: 303.4 LOC classification: HM101Online resources: Click to View
Contents:
CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Limits of Rationality -- PART I THE THEORY OF RATIONAL CHOICE -- 1 When Rationality Fails -- Comment: What Might Rationality Fail to Do? -- 2 Rational Choice and the Framing of Decisions -- 3 Choice Under Uncertainty: Problems Solved and Unsolved -- Comment: Should a Rational Agent Maximize Expected Utility? -- 4 Rational Choice in Experimental Markets -- Comment: Individual Decision Making versus Market-Level Predictions: The Applicability of Rational Choice Theory -- PART II PREFERENCE FORMATION AND THE ROLE OF NORMS -- 5 De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum -- Comment: De Gustibus Non Est Explanandum -- 6 Cooperation and Rationality: Notes on the Collective Action Problem and Its Solutions -- Comment: On the Inadequacy of Game Theory for the Solution of Real-World Collective Action Problems -- 7 Norm-Generating Structures -- Comment: An Alternative Approach to the Generation and Maintenance of Norms -- PART III INSTITUTIONS -- 8 Reason and Rationality -- Comment: Stinchcombe's "Reason and Rationality" -- 9 Managerial Dilemmas: Political Leadership in Hierarchies -- Comment: Applying Rational Choice Theory: The Role of Leadership in Team Production -- 10 The Social Evolution of Cooperation -- Comment: On Russell Hardin's "The Social Evolution of Cooperation" -- 11 Institutions and Their Consequences for Economic Performance -- 12 A Logic of Institutional Change -- List of Contributors -- Index.
Summary: Prevailing economic theory presumes that agents act rationally when they make decisions, striving to maximize the efficient use of their resources. Psychology has repeatedly challenged the rational choice paradigm with persuasive evidence that people do not always make the optimal choice. Yet the paradigm has proven so successful a predictor that its use continues to flourish, fueled by debate across the social sciences over why it works so well. Intended to introduce novices to rational choice theory, this accessible, interdisciplinary book collects writings by leading researchers. The Limits of Rationality illuminates the rational choice paradigm of social and political behavior itself, identifies its limitations, clarifies the nature of current controversies, and offers suggestions for improving current models. In the first section of the book, contributors consider the theoretical foundations of rational choice. Models of rational choice play an important role in providing a standard of human action and the bases for constitutional design, but do they also succeed as explanatory models of behavior? Do empirical failures of these explanatory models constitute a telling condemnation of rational choice theory or do they open new avenues of investigation and theorizing? Emphasizing analyses of norms and institutions, the second and third sections of the book investigate areas in which rational choice theory might be extended in order to provide better models. The contributors evaluate the adequacy of analyses based on neoclassical economics, the potential contributions of game theory and cognitive science, and the consequences for the basic framework when unequal bargaining power and hierarchy are introduced.
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.
    Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)
No physical items for this record

CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Limits of Rationality -- PART I THE THEORY OF RATIONAL CHOICE -- 1 When Rationality Fails -- Comment: What Might Rationality Fail to Do? -- 2 Rational Choice and the Framing of Decisions -- 3 Choice Under Uncertainty: Problems Solved and Unsolved -- Comment: Should a Rational Agent Maximize Expected Utility? -- 4 Rational Choice in Experimental Markets -- Comment: Individual Decision Making versus Market-Level Predictions: The Applicability of Rational Choice Theory -- PART II PREFERENCE FORMATION AND THE ROLE OF NORMS -- 5 De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum -- Comment: De Gustibus Non Est Explanandum -- 6 Cooperation and Rationality: Notes on the Collective Action Problem and Its Solutions -- Comment: On the Inadequacy of Game Theory for the Solution of Real-World Collective Action Problems -- 7 Norm-Generating Structures -- Comment: An Alternative Approach to the Generation and Maintenance of Norms -- PART III INSTITUTIONS -- 8 Reason and Rationality -- Comment: Stinchcombe's "Reason and Rationality" -- 9 Managerial Dilemmas: Political Leadership in Hierarchies -- Comment: Applying Rational Choice Theory: The Role of Leadership in Team Production -- 10 The Social Evolution of Cooperation -- Comment: On Russell Hardin's "The Social Evolution of Cooperation" -- 11 Institutions and Their Consequences for Economic Performance -- 12 A Logic of Institutional Change -- List of Contributors -- Index.

Prevailing economic theory presumes that agents act rationally when they make decisions, striving to maximize the efficient use of their resources. Psychology has repeatedly challenged the rational choice paradigm with persuasive evidence that people do not always make the optimal choice. Yet the paradigm has proven so successful a predictor that its use continues to flourish, fueled by debate across the social sciences over why it works so well. Intended to introduce novices to rational choice theory, this accessible, interdisciplinary book collects writings by leading researchers. The Limits of Rationality illuminates the rational choice paradigm of social and political behavior itself, identifies its limitations, clarifies the nature of current controversies, and offers suggestions for improving current models. In the first section of the book, contributors consider the theoretical foundations of rational choice. Models of rational choice play an important role in providing a standard of human action and the bases for constitutional design, but do they also succeed as explanatory models of behavior? Do empirical failures of these explanatory models constitute a telling condemnation of rational choice theory or do they open new avenues of investigation and theorizing? Emphasizing analyses of norms and institutions, the second and third sections of the book investigate areas in which rational choice theory might be extended in order to provide better models. The contributors evaluate the adequacy of analyses based on neoclassical economics, the potential contributions of game theory and cognitive science, and the consequences for the basic framework when unequal bargaining power and hierarchy are introduced.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.

Powered by Koha