The Rational and Irrational Integration of Behavioral Choices: Contemporary Economics Series

Author: He Da'an
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: As is well known, economics is based on two fundamental assumptions: the rationality assumption and the scarcity of resources. With these two basic assumptions, different schools of economic thought have developed their theoretical deepening and innovations. The traditional economics "preference consistency + utility maximization" rational decision-making model once led to the detachment of economic decision theory from reality, making it a "blackboard economics." When studying the integration of rational and irrational choice behaviors, this book argues that "utility maximization" is merely a logical deduction made by traditional mainstream economics based on subjective expectations of economic behavior, aligning with human behavioral purposes. The realization of maximized utility is accidental, while failing to achieve utility maximization is a frequent phenomenon. Based on this, the book proposes a new concept, "behavioral maximization," believing that this concept can better describe the actual psychological activities and behavioral processes of people when making choices. Replacing "utility maximization" with "behavioral maximization" can help analyze rational and irrational choice behaviors more realistically. Subsequently, the author explores the isomorphic phenomena of rationality and irrationality in the behavioral process, the transformation of rational choices into irrational choices, and finally analyzes the rationality and irrationality of government choice behaviors. The author hopes that economists can broaden or deepen their research on rational and irrational choice issues along this line of thought.