Rational Choice Theory

Some of Law and Economics’ basic claims have come to be criticized as a result of empirical findings that question their viability. Particularly, the premise that agents consistently act rationally and with their self-interest in mind seems problematic. What the consequences of the criticism mean for Law and Economics’ tenability depends largely on the questions whether (1) some elements are unassailable to the alternative’s objections and (2) the alternative is a systematic whole. It is argued that Law and Economics may be salvaged, if it is minimized and its ambitions are tempered. This means focusing on the stable, a priori, elements inherent to it.

The massacre of almost 50 Maidan protesters on February 20, 2014 was a turning point in Ukrainian politics and a tipping point in the conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. This mass killing of the protesters and the mass shooting of the police that preceded it led to the overthrow of the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych and gave a start to a civil war in Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, Russian military intervention in Crimea and Donbas, and an international conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. A conclusion promoted by the post-Yanukovych governments and the media in Ukraine that the massacre was perpetrated by government snipers and special police units on a Yanukovych order has been nearly universally accepted by the Western governments, the media, and many scholars. The Ukrainian government investigation identified members of the special company of Berkut as responsible for killings of the absolute majority of the protesters, but did not release any evidence in support, with the exception of videos of the massacre.
              The question is which side organized the “snipers’ massacre.” This paper is the first academic study of this crucial case of the mass killing. It uses a theory of rational choice and a Weberian theory of instrumental rationality to examine actions of major actors both from the Yanukovych government, specifically various police and security forces, and the Maidan opposition, specifically its far right and oligarchic elements, during the massacre.
          The paper analyzes a large amount of evidence from different publicly available sources concerning this massacre and killings of specifics protesters. Qualitative content analysis includes the following data: about 1,500 videos and recordings of live internet and TV broadcasts from mass media and social media in different countries(some 150 gigabytes), news reports and social media posts by more than 100 journalists covering the massacre from Kyiv, some 5,000 photos, and nearly 30 gigabytes of publicly available radio intercepts of snipers and commanders from the special Alfa unit of the Security Service of Ukraine and Internal Troops, and Maidan massacre trial recordings. This study also employs field research on site of the massacre, eyewitness reports by both Maidan protesters and government special units commanders, statements by both former and current government officials, estimates of approximate ballistic trajectories, bullets and weapons used, and types of wounds among both protesters and the police. This study establishes a precise timeline for various events of the massacre, the locations of both the shooters and the government snipers, and the specific timeline and locations of nearly 50 protesters’ deaths. It also briefly analyzes other major cases of violence during and after the “Euromaidan.” This study includes two video appendixes.
            This academic investigation concludes that the massacre was a false flag operation, which was rationally planned and carried out with a goal of the overthrow of the government and seizure of power. It found various evidence of the involvement of an alliance of the far right organizations, specifically the Right Sector and Svoboda, and oligarchic parties, such as Fatherland. Concealed shooters and spotters were located in at least 20 Maidan-controlled buildings or areas. The various evidence that the protesters were killed from these locations include some 70 testimonies, primarily by Maidan protesters, several videos of “snipers” targeting protesters from these buildings, comparisons of positions of the specific protesters at the time of their killing and their entry wounds, and bullet impact signs. The study uncovered various videos and photos of armed Maidan “snipers” and spotters in many of these buildings. The paper presents implications of these findings for understanding the nature of the change of the government in Ukraine, the civil war in Donbas, Russian military intervention in Crimea and Donbas, and an international conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine.

The Rational Choice Theory describes criminal behaviour as a form of means-end decision-making. In contrast, it is often argued that criminal behaviour involves subjective, personal biological and psychological aspects. This paper contributes an agent-based modelling approach for criminal behaviour integrating such subjective aspects with decision-making based on means-end analysis, and illustrates this for street robbery. The agent model developed is a combination of a BDI-model and a utility-based decision model in the context of such desires and beliefs. The resulting approach incorporates subjective, context-sensitive means-end analysis, where the context covers biological and psychological aspects as mentioned.

Religious life is studied by way suggested by the rational choice theory and the religious capital theory. The basic contentions of the theory on the nature of religious life having to do with an exchange upon a religious market, by firms offering compensators and rewards, and consumers, is considered. In the empirical analysis, it was validated that the independent (religious capital) and dependent (religious rewards of two types) were empirically separate constructs. Cross-sectional analysis of survey data indicated a very strong association between religious capital and institutional and ritual experience rewards within religious life, at a cross-cultural analysis, including Bosnian Muslims, Serbian Orthodox, Slovenian Catholics and US Protestants. The association was confirmed as robust at regression inspection with religious socialization. This extends further support for the empirical validity these novel theories of religious life and extensions of economic analysis into reli...

This contribution to a conference on the "heritage" of Marxist legal theory in Hungary
(1) briefly summarises the views of Hungarian Marxists on law as the "superstructure" over an economics "base" and
(2) the debates on the systemic and doctrinal role of "economic law" in the legal system
(3) argues that Marxist legal theory and Law and Economics, while both aim at "demystifying" law, fundamentally differ in terms of both method and substance
(4) recounts how in the 1980s Analytical Marxists who shared the commitment of Law and Economics to rational choice theory, (in Jon Elster's words) "engaged in a form of intellectual autophagy", criticising central tenets of Marxism "so intensely that at the end very little was left."

There seems to be critics who think that game theory can provide very little insights in doing empirical social scientific research or normative political theory/political philosophy. This is because these people tend to think that game theory is committed to some highly contestable theory of human psychology; namely, that human beings either are or should be primarily motivated by their own exclusive self-interest. From this, critics tend to think that game theory is defective both as a normative theory of action as well as a descriptive theory of action. After explaining the basics of game theory, I will try to show that such criticisms are mostly based on a general misunderstanding of game theory. In the end, I will argue that game theory is simply a mathematical tool that could be used to model any strategic interaction for many different purposes, and is not committed to any substantial theories of human nature.

Gatekeepers Inside Out challenges the conventional wisdom that in-house counsel are simply "too captured" by their senior managers in their corporations to serve as effective gatekeepers of our securities markets. The author revises classical gatekeeping theory introduced by Prof. Reinier Kraakman in his seminal article (Gatekeepers: Anatomy of a Third Party Enforcement Strategy, 2 J.L. Econ. & Org. 53 (1986)). In that article, Kraakman clarified that a gatekeeping strategy requires gatekeepers "who can and will prevent misconduct reliably, regardless of the preferences and market alternatives of wrongdoers." Although Kraakman did not make much of the distinction, he recognized that successful gatekeepers must not only be "willing" but also "able" to prevent misconduct. Now, consider also that gatekeepers must not only be prepared to "interdict" misconduct but also to "monitor" to detect such happenings in the first place. By combining these two simple observations, we see that potential gatekeepers can be evaluated by their: (1) willingness to interdict, (2) willingness to monitor, (3) capacity to monitor, and (4) capacity to interdict. Using this new framework of analysis, the author compares inside and outside counsel for the gatekeeping role. Along the way, the author departs from traditional gatekeeping theory's exclusive reliance on rational choice theory and imports empirical findings from social psychology and sociology that illuminate the four conditions of effective gatekeeping. By running inside and outside counsel through this rigorous mill of analysis, the author comes to unexpected conclusions. The analytical framework set forth by the author can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of other traditional gatekeepers, including investment bankers, securities analysts, accountants, and, yes, even credit agencies.

Notions of human agency are a prominent part of some but not all criminological theories. For example, McCarthy (Annu Rev Sociol 28:417–442, 2002) argues that rational choice theory, which allows persons great involvement in decision making, is more congenial with notions of human agency than others. It would appear from his argument that rational choice theory offers fertile ground to develop a clearly defined role for human agency in criminal behavior. In this paper we have taken up McCarthy’s view and argue that an important part of what is human agency consists of thoughtfully reflective decision making. We outline four elements of thoughtfully reflective decision making, and claim that it is a characteristic that varies both across persons and within persons over time. It is in short the process by which good decisions are made because by using this process one increases the likelihood that choices made will be consistent with preferences. We develop a clear operational definition of thoughtfully reflective decision making and link it to the concept of human agency. We also articulate testable hypotheses about the short-term and longer-term implications of thoughtfully reflective decision making. We conclude with a discussion of what we think lies ahead for future conceptual and empirical work.

The "tragedy of the commons", as part of the mainstream economic theory, assumes that the selfish and rational human nature will lead to the depletion of essential resources (such as water, air, subsistence items, etc.) in the absence of well-defined property rights, formal, top-down management institutions, rules of access and exploitation. Nevertheless, evolutionary theory advances a new model of individual behaviour, based on altruism and cooperation that could lay the foundation of new types of institutions for managing the commons for the long-term benefit of the group or society. Reviewing the relevant literature that identifies instances of cooperation and successful management of the commons, the paper brings into light the essential conditions necessary for a responsible exploitation of a common resource. Introduction The well-known idea of the "tragedy of the commons"-meaning that in the absence of certain characteristics (such as clear property rights, solid management institutions, well-defined access and exploitation rules, etc.), a common-pool resource will be certainly placed in the middle of the confrontation between the self-interest of individuals and the collective interest of the community, eventually being depleted due to the tendency of any individual to overexploit it-is part of the mainstream economic theory. The tragedy is even greater if we take into account that most of the so-called "commons" are essential resources (such as water, air, subsistence items, etc.) that pertain to the survival of any individual, directly linked to the sustainability of a community. Nevertheless, the human species has succeeded in managing such common resources for millennia, ensuring its survival by proving a high degree of ultra-sociality and ultra-cooperation. The current paper is a theoretical research aimed at identifying successful instances of cooperation in overcoming the inexorable tragedy of the commons, describing the essential conditions necessary for a responsible exploitation of a common resource, and ultimately finding a new model to lie at the basis of the economic theory. The theme of the research is of great importance, given the fact that the sustainability of a community depends on an accountable use of the common resources, which is to be achieved by promoting a new model of individual, different from homo oeconomicus, driven by cooperation and concern for the common good. The paper will investigate the link between sustainability and the alleged self-centred human nature in order to ascertain whether the "tragedy of the commons" is inevitable when dealing with any common resource or whether such a tragedy is only generated by the promotion of a wrong model of economic man and institutions. Although theoretical, the research draws upon a large body of empirical research presented in the literature dealing with the management of the commons.

How are rules enforced in the absence of an organization with coercive powers? I examine the role of informal institutions in supporting self-enforcement of rules through ethnographic research on a popular form of community-based gambling in the Philippines. In ending, a reputation-based mechanism shapes exchange relations between bettors and bet-takers, and among members of a local community. Social norms about sharing one's winnings (balato) provide community members with an interest in the outcome of these exchange relations, thereby strengthening the ability of bettors to acquire information about the reputation of various bet-takers. In consequence, bet-takers exert efforts to safeguard their reputation, and comply with informal rules about the immediate and complete delivery of winnings. The findings suggest that when communities are small enough so that members are able to observe each other, but not too small so that no individual possesses all the relevant information, then social norms that generate effective transmission of reputational information provide sufficient institutional support for self-governance.

In this paper, I review the literature on rational choice theory to examine a set of philosophical issues that have dominated foundational debates about it for a long time. In particular, the paper scrutinizes a number of criticisms that philosophers have voiced against its usefulness as an empirical theory in economics. The paper has three goals: First, I argue that the debates about rational choice theory have been characterized by disunity and confusion about the object under scrutiny, which calls into question the effectiveness of those criticisms. Second, I argue that rational choice theory is not a single and unified choice theory – let alone an empirical theory of human behavior – as many lines of criticism seem to suppose. Rather, there are several variants of rational choice theory that are used in economics. Third, I propose that we think of rational choice theory as a set of distinct research strategies to appreciate its diversity. Those strategies share some basic conceptual and methodological commitments. However, they are distinct in how they are specified further when applied for particular purposes. My analysis implies that the effectiveness of any appraisal depends on the particular variant of rational choice theory being appraised.

Bu tezde, James D. Fearon'ın çalışması olan "Rationalist Explanations of War" yani "Savaşın Akılcı Açıklamaları" ışığında Kıbrıs Barış Harekâtı ve 1965-74 süreci incelenmiş ve Fearon'ın önemini vurguladığı egemenlik ve konu bölünmezliği kavramlarının yardımı ile Kıbrıs'taki durum açıklanmıştır. Milliyet Gazete Arşivi'nden 1965-1974 yılları arasında içinde Kıbrıs anahtar kelimesi geçen siyasi haberler, Fearon'ın konu bölünmezliği kavramı içerisinde analiz edilmiştir. Bunlara ek olarak kısaca Kıbrıs Tarihi'nden, Kıbrıs Rum ve Türkleri arasındaki anlaşmazlıklardan bahsedilmiştir. Milliyet gazete arşivinden faydalanılarak söz konusu yıllar arasında Kıbrıs'ta olan olaylar anlatılmış ve tablo yardımıyla analiz edilmiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, James D. Fearon'ın Savaşın Akılcı Açıklamaları eseri ışığında 1974 Kıbrıs Barış Harekâtı'nı ve harekâta giden on yıllık süreci analiz etmektir.

In the instance of an individual committing suicide, the display of their actions carry the claim into realization that “dying is better than living”. The investigation of this concept is subject to analytical inquiry since it assists us in understanding the various rationalizations that develop from one making this conceptual leap. Three important cases exist in aiding the investigation of how suicide might be rational. The first includes Michael Gill’s article titled “Is the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide Compatible with Good End-of-Life Care?” where an end-of-life case of a terminally ill patient requesting physician–assisted suicide is examined. In addition, Avital Pilpel’s/Lawrence Amsel’s article “What is Wrong with Rational Suicide” investigates a case of a woman whose life has passed its peak and decides on committing suicide after reading multiple existential literature. Another important collaborative piece includes Henri Wijsbek’s “’To Thine Own Self be True’: On the Loss of Integrity as a Kind of Suffering”, where the case pertaining to the tragic life of Mrs. Boomsma and her commitment to suicide is studied. Each work contribute to providing a possible rational response to the desire of killing oneself by including three individual, yet hypothetical and actual, situations along with personal analyses. However, not every case proofs itself rational and requires reexamination in order to disclose which holds the circumstances that suggests “dying is better than living”. For the purposes of clarity, this essay will first aim at briefly introducing each individual case followed by examining how each particular situation holds or departs from the rational claim that dying is better than living.

We prove the existence of an expected utility function for preferences over probabilistic prospects satisfying Strict Monotonicity, Indifference, the Common Ration Property, Substitution and Reducibility of Extreme Prospects. The example in Rubinstein (1988) that is inconsistent with the existence of a von Neumann-Morgenstern for preferences over probabilistic prospects, violates the Common Ratio Property. Subsequently, we prove the existence of expected utility functions with piecewise linear Bernoulli utility functions for preferences that are piece-wise linear. For this case a weaker version of the Indifference Assumption that is used in the earlier existence theorems is sufficient. We also state analogous results for probabilistic lotteries. We do not require any compound prospects or mixture spaces to prove any of our results. In the second last section of this paper, we “argue” that the observations related to Allais paradox, do not constitute a violation of expected utility maximization by individuals, but is a likely manifestation of individuals assigning (experiment or menu-dependent?) subjective probabilities to events which disagree with their objective probabilities.

Attraverso un esperimento svolto nel 2011, riprendendo la teoria di Turner sui fenomeni liminoidi in relazione ai drammi sociali, sono andata alla ricerca del dramma sociale rappresentato attraverso le performance di improvvisazione in danza. L’esperimento ha quindi coinvolto 6 performer in un workshop dando vita a un ciclo di 12 performance all’aperto nel centro storico di Firenze, durante le quali è stato intervistato il pubblico di passaggio sulle impressioni e parole chiave che le performance suscitavano in loro. Dalla ricorrenza di alcuni termini è stato evidente il collegamento con il concetto postmoderno di libertà. Secondo Bauman viviamo in una società in cui è stato guadagnato in libertà individuale perdendo però quella sicurezza che teneva insieme la società moderna.
Nel mondo postmoderno vige la frammentazione e la mancanza di un quadro, sembrano mancare gli strumenti concettuali per esaminare la situazione in modo coerente e integrato. La vita individuale è concepita più che altro come un opera o come un’impresa, come qualcosa che va sviluppata, perfezionata e rielaborata fino a raggiungere il massimo potenziale. Al giorno d’oggi sembra che anche semplici scelte, come quale detersivo comprare, ci mettano di fronte a una crescente incapacità di scegliere. Nel gioco di specchi dell’improvvisazione come fenomeno liminoide possiamo quindi vedere chiaramente quali sono i nessi tra questa pratica performativa e la società postmoderna: il performer, improvvisando, si definisce nel presente della performance, compiendo le sue scelte passo dopo passo sulla scena. Si pone in una situazione di “precarietà creativa”, di “crisi volontaria”, come se avesse riprodotto una “scenografia postmoderna”.
Sembra che l’arte abbia proposto uno spazio protetto in cui potersi liberare
dall’ansia della scelta, in cui le parole chiave sono accettazione, ascolto e
mancanza di giudizio. Sembra inoltre aver riportato l’attenzione su un nodo
cruciale: la scelta non è quasi mai razionale, è intuitiva e sociale.

Corrupt exchanges are often brokered by a third party, but this phenomenon has not been satisfactorily explored by researchers of corruption. Literature on brokerage in general provides interesting models but they have not previously been applied to corrupt exchanges. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with respondents who participated in actual corrupt transactions, this paper identifies several distinct brokerage types in low-level corruption in contemporary Hungary. The paper also provides explanation of variation in corruption brokerage in terms of actors' group affiliations, forms of the corrupt exchanges, brokerage mechanisms, as well as neutrality, benefit and motivation, risk distribution, and stability of the brokerage structure. Finally, we discuss some policy implications of corruption brokerage.

Our lives are filled with aesthetic choices, that is, choices of objects for aesthetic experience. Choice is crucial to having a fulfilling aesthetic life. Our immediate satisfaction and long term flourishing require the ability to generate rewarding aesthetic opportunities. A good aesthetic life is one of good aesthetic choices. Given the centrality of choice to a good aesthetic life, aesthetic theory is in need of an account of choice. However, aesthetic choice has gone unexamined. This paper considers how choice helps to make us who we are as aesthetic persons. I situate aesthetic choice within debates in contemporary choice theory. The paper also examines whether the recommenders on websites like Amazon or Netflix pose a risk to our aesthetic flourishing. Aesthetic choice is mostly constructive and conditional, in other words, ad hoc and easily influenced. Aesthetic choices tend to be small choices, with low stakes and relaxed deliberation. The effect of our choices is cumulative, and the import of individual choices is best judged by seeing them in the context of other choices. We can best evaluate choices by seeing them in terms of the plans to which they belong

This study seeks to determine the significant factors affecting voting preferences of Cebuano's in the South District of Cebu City during the 2013 Midterm Election. The scope of the study is limited to the selected Barangays of Cebu City South District. The random survey method is used in gathering the data needed in studying the voting preferences of Cebu City South District. The data collected from the survey are treated using STATA software. In analyzing the data, the Rational Choice of Anthony Downs has been discussed elaborately, and through the analysis, it explains the reasons for voters voting for a certain mayoral and vice mayoral candidate and it shows that the respondents are rational and consistent in choosing their candidates. The significance of the study is to determine the various reasons how Cebuano voters choose their candidates.

Sttreszczenie. Celem artykułu jest syntetyczna prezentacja wkładu teorii gier w badania nad pojęciem racjonalności. Punktem wyjścia rozważań jest wyróżnienie czterech funkcji teorii gier: normatywnej, eksplanacyjno-predykcyjnej, etycznej i klasyfikującej. Wkład teorii gier w rozumienie pojęcia racjonalności wiąże się przede wszystkich z jej funkcją normatywną, polegającą na dostarczeniu kryteriów racjonalnego działania dla tzw. sytuacji strategicznych. Wkład ten obejmuje jednak również ujawnienie pewnych paradoksalnych faktów na temat racjonalności, w szczególności: faktu racjonalności losowego wyboru strategii, faktu nieusuwalnego niedookreślenia racjonalności dla pewnych typów sytuacji strategicznych, oraz faktu konfliktu między racjonalnością indywidualną i grupową. W artykule analizowane są również dwa zarzuty wobec teorii gier: zarzut niekompletności (zgodnie z którym teoria gier nie stanowi pełnej teorii racjonalności praktycznej) oraz zarzut nieadekwatności (zgodnie z którym kryteria racjonalności proponowane w ramach teorii gier nie są w pełni trafne, a więc teoria gier nie jest adekwatną interpretacją racjonalności instrumentalnej). Broniona jest w nim teza, że o ile zarzut pierwszy jest trafny, o tyle drugi nie daje się utrzymać.

http://lnx.pubblitesi.it/schede-sintetiche/area-umanistica/1230-virginia-ghiara-oltre-l-individualismo-metodologico-le-proposte-del-mauss

La tesi intende ripercorrere l’evoluzione del pensiero dei membri del MAUSS dalla fondazione del movimento a oggi. Il primo capitolo propone una descrizione del movimento, mentre il secondo capitolo riepiloga il primo periodo del MAUSS, che coincide con la pars destruens del lavoro teorico proposto dagli esponenti. I primi anni di vita del MAUSS sono infatti stati dedicati alla ricostruzione dei vari modelli di homo oeconomicus e alla critica della teoria della scelta razionale. Il terzo e il quarto capitolo, infine, si concentrano sulla pars costruens del lavoro del MAUSS: il dibattito sul ruolo del riconoscimento e l’elaborazione del manifesto convivialista.

Prison socializes an inmate to hyper-calculative behavior. It teaches him patience in planning and pursuing his goals, punishes him severely for his mistakes and rewards him generously for smart action. No wonder that inmates are such ardent optimizers. A clever move can shorten one’s sentence, save one from rape or a beating, keep one’s spirit high, or increase one’s access to resources. There is little space for innocent and spontaneous expressions of emotion when they collide with fundamental interests. Brutal fights, selfinjury, and rapes can all be explained as outcomes of carefully calculated actions. Paradoxically, much of the confusion in interpreting prison behavior arises from both a failure to understand the motives of inmates and an unwillingness to admit that outcomes judged as inhuman or bizarre may be consequences of individually rational action. The main message of the book is that prisoners optimize under the constraints of their harsh life conditions and the local subculture. Their behavior reflects their attempts at optimization. Such ‘rational choice’ approach helps us to understand prison behavior better.

Sinopsis kasus pembunuh berantai bernama Aileen Wuornos diikuti dengan analisis kasus menurut pandangan right realism dalam kriminologi beserta dua teori utamanya mengenai penyebab kriminalitas, yaitu rational choice theory dan broken windows theory.