Abstract
With the discovery of voluminous discordant empirical evidence, maximizing expected utility is rapidly disappearing as the core of the theory of human rationality, and a theory of bounded rationality, embracing both the processes and products of choice, is replacing it. There remains a large task of organizing our picture of economic and social processes and adding the new facts needed to shape the theory in an empirically sound way. It is also urgent that new tools now available for conducting empirical inquiry and constructing models be incorporated in social science graduate education.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beard, C.A. (1913)An economic interpretation of the constitution of the United States (New York, Macmillan).
Beard, C.A. (1922)The economic basis of politics (New York, A.A. Knopf).
Becker, G. (1981)A treatise on the family (Cambridge, Harvard University Press).
Bendor, J. & Swistak, P. (1997) The evolutionary stability of cooperation,American Political Science Review, 91, pp. 290–306.
Carley, K.M. & Prietula, M.J. (1994)Computational organization theory (Hillsdale, Erlbaum).
Gode, D.K. & Sunder, S. (1997) What makes markets allocationally efficient?,Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111, pp. 604–629.
Hamilton, A., Madison, J. & Jay, J. (1787)The Federalist Papers (Richmond, Westvaco, 1995).
Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. (1985) Prospect theory: An analysis of decision-making under risk,Econometrica, 47, pp. 263–291.
Locke, J. (1690)On civil government (London, J. M. Dent, 1924).
Machiavelli, N. (1513)The Prince (London, Oxford University Press, 1935).
Merriam, C.E. (1931)The making of citizens (Chicago, University of Chicago Press).
Merriam, C.E. & Gosnell H.F. (1924)Non-voting (Chicago, University of Chicago Press).
Mill, J.S. (1848)Principles of political economy (New York, Longmans, 1920).
Murdock, G.P. (1949)Social structure (New York, The Free Press).
Muth, J.F. (1961) Rational expectations and the theory of price movements,Econometrica, 29, pp. 315–335.
Nelson, R.R. & Winter, S.G. (1982)An evolutionary theory of economic change (Cambridge, Harvard University Press).
von Neumann, J. & Morgenstern, O. (1944)The theory of games and economic behavior (Princeton, Princeton University Press).
Plato (1997 edition)The Republic (Ware, Wordsworth Editions).
Prietula, M.J., Carley, K.M. & Gasser, L. (Eds.) (1998)Simulating organizations (Cambridge, AAAI Press-The MIT Press).
Selten, R. (1994) In search of better understanding of economic behavior, in A. Heertje (Ed.),The makers of modern economics (New York, Harvester Wheatsheaf).
Simon, H.A. (1955) A behavioral model of rational choice,Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69, pp 99–118.
Simon, H.A. (1956) Rational choice and the structure of the environment,Psychological Review, 63, pp. 129–138.
Smith, A. (1776)The wealth of nations (New York, The Modern Library, 1937). (Text based on 5th edition).
Smith, V. (1962) An experimental study of competitive market behavior,The Journal of Political Economy, 70, pp. 111–137.
Smith, V. (1989) Theory, experiment and economics,The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 3(1), pp. 151–169.
Stigler, G.J. & Becker, G.S. (1977) De gustibus non est disputandum,American Economic Review, 67, pp. 76–90.
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1981) The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice,Science, 211 (Jan. 30), pp. 435–58.
Voltaire, F. M. A. (1746)Dictionnaire philosophique (Paris, Garnier, 1973).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simon, H.A. Bounded rationality in social science: Today and tomorrow. Mind & Society 1, 25–39 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02512227
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02512227