scholarly journals Altruism, Noise, and the Paradox of Voter Turnout: An Experimental Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Tulman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Experimental Study ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Quantal Response ◽  
Voting Participation

This paper addresses the paradox of voter turnout, wherein observed voting participation rates are far greater than what rational choice theory would predict. Voters face multiple voting choices, stochastic voting costs, and candidates offering different economic platforms. A combination of two approaches attempts to resolve this paradox: quantal response equilibrium (QRE) analysis, which introduces noise into the decision-making process, and the possibility of ethical (altruism-motivated) voting. A series of laboratory experiments empirically tests the predictions of the resulting model. Participants in the experiments are also given opportunities for communicating online with their immediate neighbors, in order to enhance the chances that subjects would realize the possibility of ethical voting. The results show that ethical voting occurs but gains momentum only in the presence of a vocal advocate and even then it mostly dissipated by the second half of the session. The QRE-based model was able to explain some but not all of the overvoting that was observed, relative to the Nash equilibrium prediction. There is evidence to suggest that communication via the chat feature generated some of the voting and also some of the ethical voting.

Cognitive Biases in Decision Making in Post-Bureaucratic Organizations

2017 ◽  
pp. 358-382
Author(s):  
Marie-Therese Claes ◽  
Thibault Jacquemin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Bureaucratic Organization ◽  
System 2 ◽  
System 1

In today's post-bureaucratic organization, where decision-making is decentralized, most managers are confronted with highly complex situations where time-constraint and availability of information makes the decision-making process essential. Studies show that a great amount of decisions are not taken after a rational decision-making process but rather rely on instinct, emotion or quickly processed information. After briefly describing the journey of thoughts from Rational Choice Theory to the emergence of Behavioral Economics, this chapter will elaborate on the mechanisms that are at play in decision-making in an attempt to understand the root causes of cognitive biases, using the theory of Kahneman's (2011) System 1 and System 2. It will discuss the linkage between the complexity of decision-making and post-bureaucratic organization.

scholarly journals The Paradox of Voter Participation? A Laboratory Study

2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID K. LEVINE ◽  
THOMAS R. PALFREY
Keyword(s):  
Nash Equilibrium ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Comparative Statics ◽  
Voter Participation ◽  
Quantal Response ◽  
Competition Effect ◽  
Underdog Effect

It is widely believed that rational choice theory is grossly inconsistent with empirical observations about voter turnout. We report the results of an experiment designed to test the voter turnout predictions of the rational choice Palfrey–Rosenthal model of participation with asymmetric information. We find that the three main comparative statics predictions are observed in the data: the size effect, whereby turnout goes down in larger electorates; the competition effect, whereby turnout is higher in elections that are expected to be close; and the underdog effect, whereby voters supporting the less popular alternative have higher turnout rates. We also compare the quantitative magnitudes of turnout to the predictions of Nash equilibrium. We find that there is undervoting for small electorates and overvoting for large electorates, relative to Nash equilibrium. These deviations from Nash equilibrium are consistent with the logit version of Quantal Response Equilibrium, which provides a good fit to the data, and can also account for significant voter turnout in very large elections.

Revisiting the role of process incentives as a determinant of university students’ protest

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-253
Author(s):  
Elias Dinas ◽  
Kostas Gemenis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Public

Drawing on the original data collected during a period of university student protest in Greece, we explore whether the expected gains from the act of protesting itself influence an individual's decision to participate in collective action. More particularly, we investigate the extent to which the process incentives qualify the weight individuals attach to the primary elements of the original cost–benefit equation of rational choice theory as well as other considerations in their decision-making process. Our findings point out that the magnitude of the effect of the process incentives is very strong and its inclusion in a rational choice model improves our understanding of students’ participation in protest activities. Turning to indirect effects, we show that process incentives behave as a first stage precondition for the students’ decision to participate in collective action. In the absence of perceived benefits associated with the process of protesting, the importance of attaining the public good becomes much less important in their decision-making process.

Multiple Interpretations of Rationality in Offender Decision Making

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henk Elffers
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Difference Of Opinion ◽  
Choice Approach

It is argued that, contrary to some criticisms, rational choice theory of criminal decision making has and should have a clear place for emotions as part of the decision-making process, as it had in classical treatises of Coornhert, Smith, and Bentham, as well as in modern formulations such as Elster’s. It appears that much disagreement is a consequence of a hidden difference of opinion on what the concept of “rational choice” contains or should contain and how it may or may not be used in explaining the occurrence of crime. This chapter provides clarity on this issue by discussing various elements that may have generated disagreement about content and scope of the rational choice approach. The chapter focuses on what is, could, or should be the contribution of rational choice theory to criminal choice theory.

The Power of Sequence

2021 ◽  
pp. 309-326
Author(s):  
Christopher Brett Jaeger ◽  
Jennifer S. Trueblood
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Criminal Case ◽  
Choice Architecture ◽  
Intellectual Origins ◽  
Rational Decisions

Researchers have documented numerous cognitive biases that are difficult to reconcile with rational choice theory. But is there a more general set of decision-making rules that might account for these cognitive biases and ‘rational’ decisions alike? Psychologists in search of such rules have developed a theory of quantum decision making. This chapter introduces quantum decision making to a legal audience, explains its intellectual origins, and identifies some contexts in which it provides useful tools for legal theorists. Using the example of a juror evaluating a criminal case, the chapter illustrates how quantum decision making explains and predicts phenomena that are difficult to reconcile with other theories of choice. More generally, quantum decision making highlights the importance of sequence in shaping judgments and decisions—and thus, its importance in law’s choice architecture.

Behavioral Studies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Zamir ◽  
Doron Teichman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Behavioral Ethics ◽  
Behavioral Studies

Against the background of rational choice theory, this chapter provides an overview of the behavioral sub-disciplines informing behavioral law and economics—including judgment and decision-making studies, parts of social psychology, moral psychology, experimental game theory, and behavioral ethics. The chapter discusses deviations from cognitive and motivational rationality, including studies of people’s moral judgments. It begins with probability assessments and related issues. It critically describes phenomena related to prospect theory, phenomena associated with motivated reasoning and egocentrism, and those related to reference-dependence. It also summarizes studies of bounded willpower. Some attention is given to studies that show that most people do not share the consequentialist outlook that prioritizes the maximization of human welfare over all other values. Finally, the chapter discusses several issues that cut across various phenomena: individual differences in judgment and decision-making; the significance of professional training, experience, and expertise; deciding for others; group decision-making; cultural differences; and debiasing.

Reconciling Emotion and Rational Choice: Negativistic Auto Theft, Consequence Irrelevance, and the Seduction of Destruction

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 783-815
Author(s):  
Bruce A. Jacobs ◽  
Michael Cherbonneau
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Auto Theft ◽  
Choice Decision ◽  
Decision Making Models ◽  
Depth Interviews

Objectives: We explore negativism in the context of auto theft and examine its broader phenomenological significance for Rational Choice Theory. Methods: Data were drawn from qualitative, in-depth interviews with 35 active auto thieves operating out of a large Midwestern U.S. city. Results: Negativistic offending is malicious, spiteful, and/or destructive conduct whose purpose is typically more hedonic (i.e., short-term gratification) than instrumental (i.e., resource-generating) or normative (i.e., moralistic). It is made possible by the notion of ownership without responsibility: Offenders controlled a vehicle that was not theirs, promoting consequence irrelevance which in turn unleashed reckless conduct. Conclusions: Consequence irrelevance clarifies negativism’s logic and permits linkage between affect-based and rational choice decision-making models.

Fewer voters, higher stakes? The applicability of rational choice for voter turnout in Quebec municipalities

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 990-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Breux ◽  
Jérôme Couture ◽  
Nicole Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Voter Participation ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Multivariate Regression Model ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Rational Voter ◽  
The Impact

Municipal voter turnout is often considered to be a function of electorate size. According to the rational choice theory of voter behavior, a rational voter is more inclined to abstain in the presence of larger electorates, and more likely to participate in smaller ones. This article examines the impact of electorate size on voter turnout using a multivariate regression model to explain voter participation in Quebec municipalities in the 2009 and 2013 local elections ( N = 1040). Several other assumptions pertaining to the rational voter are also tested. We find that rational choice theory explains 45% of municipal voter participation in these Quebec elections and that it supports the probability of pivotal voting. Our analysis also confirms that the number of electors, number of mayoral candidates, tax rate, presence of a political party, and incumbency have different effects on participation in small and large municipalities.

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