<p>We usually think about rationality as being sensible or reasonable. <strong>For economists, rationality means when you make a choice, you will choose the thing you like best. Economic rationality accepts that people will act in a relatively predictable way. </strong></p>
<p><em>Economists use this assumption to build economic models or theories. A famous theory is the law of supply and demand which states that if something costs more, rational people will probably want to buy less of it and sell more of it.</em></p>

Economic rationality

<ul>
<li><strong>Rational choice theory</strong> thinks of people as economic super-men and women, also known as homo economicus. Economists use this theory to think about what 'economic man' would do, then add up the actions of billions of people to make models about how the economy works.</li>
<li><strong>Bounded rationality theory</strong> looks at the ways we don't or can't act like homo economicus. It sees people as rational but limited by the information they possess and their ability to process that information.</li>
</ul>

'Rational choice theory' and 'Bounded rationality theory'

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<ol><li><a href="https://www.ecnmy.org/learn/"><span>Learn </span><meta/> </a><div><svg><title>Arrow </title><rect> </rect><rect> </rect> </svg> </div> </li><li><a href="https://www.ecnmy.org/learn/you/"><span>You </span><meta/> </a><div><svg><title>Arrow </title><rect> </rect><rect> </rect> </svg> </div> </li><li><a href="https://www.ecnmy.org/learn/you/choices-behavior/"><span>How you think, according to (other) economists </span><meta/> </a><div><svg><title>Arrow </title><rect> </rect><rect> </rect> </svg> </div> </li><li>What is ‘rationality’? </li> </ol>

<p><strong>Rationality, for economists, simply means that when you make a choice, you will choose the thing you like best </strong>.¹ This is very different from the way we normally think about rationality. Usually when we talk about rationality we use it to mean sensible, or reasonable. <strong>To economists—as long as you’re doing what you want given your situation, you’re acting rationally. </strong> </p>

<p><strong>That means that the craziest behavior you can think of could be rational for economists </strong>. Burning money is a good example.¹ Surely that should be irrational, right? </p>

<p>Economists aren’t so quick to judge. Maybe somebody hates money. Or loves fire. Or just feels like burning some money. Given any of those interests, burning money might be perfectly rational. (Some economists take this quite seriously; if you want to see 20 pages of math on the rationality of burning money, you’re in luck!)² </p>

<p><strong>Economic rationality accepts that people want what they want, </strong>without saying whether those <a href="http://www.ecnmy.org/learn/you/social-influences-culture-information/conspicuous-consumption-information-cascade-preferences-come/">preferences </a>are good or bad. This might make rationally seem like a pretty silly concept. <strong>But rationality is a big deal for economists because it lets them assume that people aren’t just crazy, but will act in relatively predictable ways </strong>. </p>

<p>They use this assumption to build economic models or theories. One famous theory is the ‘law’ of <a href="http://www.ecnmy.org/learn/you/you-the-economist/what-is-microeconomics/">supply and demand </a>which says that if something costs more, rational people are probably going to want to buy less of it and sell more of it. </p>

<p><strong>Two other important theories based on rationality are <a href="http://www.ecnmy.org/learn/you/choices-behavior/rational-choice-theory-homo-economicus/">rational choice theory </a>and <a href="http://www.ecnmy.org/learn/you/choices-behavior/what-is-bounded-rationality/">bounded rationality </a> </strong>. Rational choice theory thinks of people as not just as narrowly rational, but as economic super-men and women—sometimes called homo economicus. Economists using rational choice theory think about what ‘economic man’ would do and then add up the actions of billions of ‘economic men and women’ to make models, or simplified stories about how the economy works. </p>

<p><strong>Bounded rationality theory sees people as rational, but limited by the amount of information they have and their ability to quickly process that <a href="http://www.ecnmy.org/learn/you/social-influences-culture-information/asymmetric-information-uncertainty-perfect-information/">information </a> </strong>. Bounded rationality gives us a much more realistic view of how humans actually behave by looking at the ways we don’t (or can’t) act like homo economicus. This make the theory more realistic, but also makes it much harder to make simple economic models about big things in the economy. </p>

<ol><li><div>What an Economist Means by “Rationality”, James Campbell, 2015 </div><div><a href="http://read.hipporeads.com/what-an-economist-means-by-rationality/">http://read.hipporeads.com/what-an-economist-means-by-rationality/ </a> </div> </li><li><div>Mixed Equilibrium: When Burning Money is Rational, Filipe Souza and Leandro Rêgo, 2012 </div><div><a href="https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/43410/">https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/43410/ </a> </div> </li><li><div>Microeconomics in Context, Chapter 7 “Economic Behavior and Rationality”, Neva Goodwin, Jonathan Harris, Julie Nelson, Brian Roach, &amp; Mariano Torras, 2014 </div><div><a href="http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/te/MIC/3e/MIC_3e_Ch7.pdf">http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/te/MIC/3e/MIC_3e_Ch7.pdf </a> </div> </li><li><div>Rational Choice Theory, 60 Second Adventures in Economics, 2012 </div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaKMimJPxyA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaKMimJPxyA </a> </div> </li><li><div>Axioms of Consumer Preference and the Theory of Choice, David Autor, 2010 </div><div><a href="https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/14-03-microeconomic-theory-and-public-policy-fall-2010/lecture-notes/MIT14_03F10_lec03.pdf">https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/14-03-microeconomic-theory-and-public-policy-fall-2010/lecture-notes/MIT14_03F10_lec03.pdf </a> </div> </li><li><div>Rational Choice Theory, Ashley Crossman, 2016 </div><div><a href="http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/a/Rational-Choice-Theory.htm">http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/a/Rational-Choice-Theory.htm </a> </div> </li> </ol>

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What is 'rationality'? - Economy

Economic rationality

'Rational choice theory' and 'Bounded rationality theory'

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