scholarly journals Reflecting on reflection: prospect theory, our behaviors, and our environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Adam Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Prospect Theory ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Ecological Perspective ◽  
Individual Risk ◽  
Reflection Effect ◽  
Life Years

Abstract In a previously published article, I reported some tests of prospect theory's reflection effect over outcomes defined by money and life years gained from treatment. Those results suggested qualified support for the reflection effect over money outcomes and strong support over longevity outcomes. This article reruns those tests while accounting for the intensity of individual risk attitudes, and, overall, show consistency with the reflection effect. However, I argue that these results do not necessarily offer support for the explanatory power of prospect theory. Rather, the results may be driven by evolved responses to circumstances that provoke perceptions of scarcity and abundance. Therefore, from an ecological perspective, behavioral patterns such as those that are consistent with the reflection effect, which, by extension, tend to be considered as erroneous or biased by most behavioral economists because they conflict with the postulates of rational choice theory, may not be unreasonable. Recognizing as such is important when considering how behavioral insights ought to inform public policy design and implementation.

Economics is whatever the comparative advantage of economists is: a comment on Leeson (2020)

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-556
Author(s):  
Ryan H. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Comparative Advantage ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Applied Econometrics ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Comparative Advantages

AbstractLeeson (2020) objects to the conflation of economics with applied econometrics, and argues that economics instead should be thought of as the implications of the assumption that individuals maximize, i.e. rational choice theory. But, narrowly defining economics in terms of method demands that we ignore alternative theoretical frameworks which potentially hold explanatory power about topics thought of as economics, all for the sake of a definition. I suggest that applying rational choice theory and applying econometrics became the comparative advantage for economists relative to other social scientists by accidents of history. These comparative advantages largely persist. It is reasonable to call applications of both rational choice theory and econometrics to topics outside conventional economic topics ‘economics’ simply because these applications remain the comparative advantage of economists.

Islamist Rationality: An Assessment of the Rational Choice Approach

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 584-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gamze Çavdar
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Ideological Change ◽  
Choice Approach

AbstractA growing body of literature criticizes the notion that Islamism is sui generis and argues that it could be explained by existing conceptions about human behavior. This approach relies on rational choice theory and its derivatives, characterizing Islamists as rational political actors that engage in cost-benefit analysis and strategic calculation. This article evaluates the explanatory power of this characterization through three case studies, namely the Turkish Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), the Jordanian Islamic Action Front (Jabhat al-Amal al-Islami), and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al-Muslimun). It argues that although the approach offers explanations for Islamist pragmatism, this characterization has three major limitations: lack of room for ideological change, extreme voluntarism between violence and non-violence, and lack of insight for intra-group gender relations.

scholarly journals If you've earned it, you deserve it: ultimatums, with Lego

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Adam Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Individual Decision Making ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Dictator Games ◽  
Common Observation

Abstract The ultimatum and dictator games were developed to help identify the fundamental motivators of human behavior, typically by asking participants to share windfall endowments with other persons. In the ultimatum game, a common observation is that proposers offer, and responders refuse to accept, a much larger share of the endowment than is predicted by rational choice theory. However, in the real world, windfalls are rare: money is usually earned. I report here a small study aimed at testing how participants react to an ultimatum game after they have earned their endowments by either building a Lego model or spending some time sorting out screws by their length. I find that the shares that proposers offer and responders accept are significantly lower than that typically observed with windfall money, an observation that is intensified when the task undertaken to earn the endowment is generally less enjoyable and thus perhaps more effortful (i.e., screw sorting compared to Lego building). I suggest, therefore, that considerations of effort-based desert are often important drivers behind individual decision-making, and that laboratory experiments, if intended to inform public policy design and implementation, ought to mirror the broad characteristics of the realities that people face.

The Evolution of Technological Knowledge: Reflections on Technological Innovation as an Evolutionary Process

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Loasby
Keyword(s):  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Growth Of Knowledge ◽  
New Ideas

This chapter analyses Technological Innovation as an Evolutionary Process, a book that explores the analogy between technical innovation and biological evolution, and whether such an analogy could be developed from a ‘metaphor’ into a ‘model’. After discussing the explanatory power of ‘evolutionary reasoning’, the chapter describes an alternative approach to the analysis of technological innovation. It then presents an evolutionary argument for the growth of knowledge and explains how it differs from neo-Darwinism, and examines rational choice theory in relation to natural selection. It also looks at six elements of Adam Smith's psychological theory of the emergence and development of science: the motivation for generating new ideas; the generation of novelty and the ex-ante selection processes which guide its adoption or rejection; the role of aesthetic criteria both in guiding conjectures and in encouraging their acceptance; Smith's argument that connecting principles which seem to work well are widely diffused; the renewal of the evolutionary process; and the evolution of the evolutionary process itself. Finally, the chapter considers the implications of uncertainty for cognition and the growth of knowledge.

scholarly journals Commitment-based action: Rational choice theory and contrapreferential choice

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-322
Author(s):  
Bojana Radovanovic
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Personal Wellbeing ◽  
The One

This paper focuses on Sen?s concept of contrapreferential choice. Sen has developed this concept in order to overcome weaknesses of the rational choice theory. According to rational choice theory a decision-maker can be always seen as someone who maximises utility, and each choice he makes as the one that brings to him the highest level of personal wellbeing. Sen argues that in some situations we chose alternatives that bring us lower level of wellbeing than we could achieve if we had chosen some other alternative available to us. This happens when we base our decisions on moral principles, when we act out of duty. Sen calls such action a commitment-based action. When we act out of commitment we actually neglect our preferences and thus we make a contrapreferential choice, as Sen argues. This paper shows that, contrary to Sen, a commitment-based action can be explained within the framework of rational choice theory. However, when each choice we make can be explained within the framework of rational choice theory, when in everything we do maximisation principle can be loaded, then the variety of our motives and traits is lost, and the explanatory power of the rational choice theory is questionable.

Exploitation and Rational Choice

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 635-661
Author(s):  
Loren King
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Explanatory Power

Abstract.Critics fault rational choice theory for dubious assumptions and limited explanatory power. The aims of rational choice are, however, as much normative as explanatory, and I argue that an abiding concern of political thought—the wrong of exploitation—gives moral weight to some of the more substantive assumptions underlying many rational choice prescriptions.Résumé.Les critiques reprochent à la théorie du choix rationnel d'avancer des hypothèses douteuses et d'offrir des explications restreintes. Les objectifs du choix rationnel sont, cependant, aussi bien normatifs qu'explicatifs. J'affirme qu'une préoccupation centrale de la pensée politique – le mal de l'exploitation – donne une signification morale à certains postulats du choix rationnel.

scholarly journals Explanations of Research Misconduct, and How They Hang Together

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamarinde Haven ◽  
René van Woudenberg
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Prospect Theory ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Research Misconduct ◽  
New Public ◽  
Full Explanation ◽  
The Individual

AbstractIn this paper, we explore different possible explanations for research misconduct (especially falsification and fabrication), and investigate whether they are compatible. We suggest that to explain research misconduct, we should pay attention to three factors: (1) the beliefs and desires of the misconductor, (2) contextual affordances, (3) and unconscious biases or influences. We draw on the three different narratives (individual, institutional, system of science) of research misconduct as proposed by Sovacool to review six different explanations. Four theories start from the individual: Rational Choice theory, Bad Apple theory, General Strain Theory and Prospect Theory. Organizational Justice Theory focuses on institutional factors, while New Public Management targets the system of science. For each theory, we illustrate the kinds of facts that must be known in order for explanations based on them to have minimal plausibility. We suggest that none can constitute a full explanation. Finally, we explore how the different possible explanations interrelate. We find that they are compatible, with the exception of explanations based on Rational Choice Theory and Prospect Theory respectively, which are incompatible with one another. For illustrative purposes we examine the case of Diederik Stapel.

Rational Choice Theory Applied to an Explanation of Juvenile Offender Decision Making in the Chinese Setting

2020 ◽  
pp. 0306624X2093142
Author(s):  
Jihong Zhao ◽  
Xinting Wang ◽  
Hongwei Zhang ◽  
Ruohui Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Criminological Theory ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Deep Roots

Rational choice theory (RCT) is a classical theory in criminology, with deep roots in the Enlightenment. It has secured a privileged place as a mainstream criminological theory in the United States. Ironically, RCT has not been applied to research on juvenile delinquency and related decision making in China. This study attempts to test the relative utility of RCT among adjudicated juvenile offenders incarcerated in an institution located in a southwestern province of China based on their responses to two hypothetical scenarios of offending. The results of the Tobit model analyses emerged from the two-wave longitudinal data lent strong support to the view that RCT can indeed serve as an important theory for explaining delinquent behaviors in China. More specifically, juvenile offenders used cost-benefit analysis to decide if they want to be involved either in the stealing scenario or in the fighting scenario. A discussion of findings and public policy implications are highlighted at the end of the paper

Rational Choice Theory and the 1990 Party Merger in South Korea

OUGHTOPIA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-282
Author(s):  
In-Kyun Kim ◽  
Myeong-Geon Koh
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory

POLITICS-LAW CONVERGENCE OR DIVERGENCE? 'SMALL' POLITICAL PARTIES, REALPOLITIKAND SOUTH AFRICA'S 20 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kealeboga J Maphunye
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Secondary Research ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
African Charter

This article examines South Africa's 20-year democracy by contextualising the roles of the 'small' political parties that contested South Africa's 2014 elections. Through the  prism  of South  Africa's  Constitution,  electoral legislation  and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, it examines these parties' roles in South Africa's democratisation; their influence,  if any, in parliament, and whether they play any role in South Africa's continental or international engagements. Based on a review of the extant literature, official documents,  legislation, media, secondary research, reports and the results of South Africa's elections, the article relies on game theory, rational choice theory and theories of democracy and democratic consolidation to examine 'small' political parties' roles in the country's political and legal systems. It concludes that the roles of 'small' parties in governance and democracy deserve greater recognition than is currently the case, but acknowledges the extreme difficulty experienced by the 'small'  parties in playing a significant role in democratic consolidation, given their formidable opponent in a one-party dominant system.

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