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Rationality

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Law and Economics

  • 233 Accesses

Synonyms

Analytical; Coherence; Common sense; Deduction; Inference; Judgment; Optimality; Reasonableness

Definition

Rationality involves the evaluation of choices to achieve a goal or to find the optimal solution to a problem. Simon (1972, p. 161) defined rationality as “a style of behavior that is appropriate to the achievement of given goals, within the limits imposed by given conditions and constraints.”

Introduction

The notion of rationality has become a central idea in the various disciplines within the social sciences. This entry discusses the concept of rationality, which has been a core concept in the explanation of human behavior in economics and the other social sciences. In the field of economics, it is expected that individuals behave rationally and that organizations should make rational decisions. A substantial number of economic theories are established under the assumption that when individuals act they do so in a rational manner. Simon (1957) revises this assumption...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

    Anne-Marie Mohammed

  2. Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

    Sandra Sookram

  3. Small Business Research Centre, Business School, Kingston University, London, UK

    George Saridakis

Authors
  1. Anne-Marie Mohammed
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  2. Sandra Sookram
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  3. George Saridakis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne-Marie Mohammed .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrst. Finanzwissenschaft/ Finanzsoziologie, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany

    Jürgen Backhaus

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Mohammed, AM., Sookram, S., Saridakis, G. (2014). Rationality. In: Backhaus, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_404-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_404-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

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