Unrealistic assumptions in rational choice theory
Philosophy of the Social Sciences 37 (2):115-138 (2007)
| Abstract | The most common argument against the use of rational choice models outside economics is that they make unrealistic assumptions about individual behavior. We argue that whether the falsity of assumptions matters in a given model depends on which factors are explanatorily relevant. Since the explanatory factors may vary from application to application, effective criticism of economic model building should be based on model-specific arguments showing how the result really depends on the false assumptions. However, some modeling results in imperialistic applications are relatively robust with respect to unrealistic assumptions. Key Words: unrealistic assumptions • economics imperialism • rational choice • as if • robustness. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,705 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesMilan Zafirovski (2000). The Rational Choice Generalization of Neoclassical Economics Reconsidered: Any Theoretical Legitimation for Economic Imperialism? Sociological Theory 18 (3):448-471.
James Bernard Murphy (1995). Rational Choice Theory as Social Physics. Critical Review 9 (1-2):155-174.
Michael Almeida (2006). The Unreal Problem of No Best World. Philo 9 (2):103-112.
Caterina Marchionni (2006). Contrastive Explanation and Unrealistic Models: The Case of the New Economic Geography. Journal of Economic Methodology 13 (4):425-446.
Frank A. Hindriks (2005). Unobservability, Tractability and the Battle of Assumptions. Journal of Economic Methodology 12 (3):383-406.
Kirsten Martin & Bidhan Parmar (2012). Assumptions in Decision Making Scholarship: Implications for Business Ethics Research. Journal of Business Ethics 105 (3):289-306.
Frank Hindriks (2008). False Models as Explanatory Engines. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 38 (3):334-360.
Satoshi Kanazawa (1998). In Defense of Unrealistic Assumptions. Sociological Theory 16 (2):193-204.
Steven Rappaport (1996). Abstraction and Unrealistic Assumptions in Economicsā. Journal of Economic Methodology 3 (2):215-236.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads84 ( #8,899 of 549,198 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,397 of 549,198 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
