Debating rationality

Decision makers strive to be rational. Traditionally, rational decisions maximize an appropriate return. The contributors to this book challenge the common assumption that good decisions must be rational in this economic sense.

These essays emphasize that the decision-making process is influenced by social, organizational, and psychological considerations as well as by economic concerns. Relationships, time pressure, external demands for specific types of performance, contractual expectations, human biases, and reactions to unfair treatment alter the decision-making context and the resulting decisions.

These non-economic influences often lead to decisions that appear economically irrational but that may, nevertheless, be good for an organization. These essays reach across disciplinary boundaries to provide innovative insights into how decisions should be made - and how they actually are made - every day.