Decision under risk and uncertainty (probabilistic choice) has been attracting attention in econophysics and neuroeconomics. This paper proposes a probabilistic choice model based on a mathematical equivalence of delay and uncertainty in decision-making, and the deformed algebra developed in the Tsallis' non-extensive thermodynamics. Furthermore, it is shown that this model can be utilized to q...

As stated elsewhere in this issue, we cannot claim to explain an institution’s origin just by the functions it serves. In part this may be because of the cognitive limitations of those actors who are instrumental in institutional formation and institutional change. But even more clearly, it is the case that rational instrumental choice does not imply functional institutions. Just as rational ch...

The main purpose of rational choice theory is to lay out in clear and transparent terms what conditions are necessary and/or sufficient for the validity of statements about consistent human behavior. Strong criteria for rationality are ‘wrong’ if understood as a positive description. However, their very strength provides a sharp guide for experimental social science’s project of mapping the pro...

This paper investigates the impact of progressive trade openness on the formation of entrepreneurship in a two-country occupation choice model with monopolistic competition. We show that trade opening gives rise to a non-monotonic process of international specialization, in which the share of entrepreneurial firms in the large (small) country first increases (decreases) and then decreases (incr...

Using data that combines information from the Federal Aviation Administration, the RAND Corporation and a newly developed database on global terrorist activity, we are able to examine trends in 1,101 attempted aerial hijackings that occurred around the world from 1931 to 2003. We have especially complete information for 828 for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), grant nu...

Title of Document: DISSOCIATED CHOICES IN DIRECT DEMOCRACY: PREFERENCES, POLICY RESPONSIVENESS AND TRUST IN BALLOT INITIATIVE ELECTIONS Joshua J. Dyck, Ph.D. 2006 Directed By: Professor James G. Gimpel, Department of Government and Politics This research begins with a simple question: do direct democratic voting systems fulfill their promise of generating more majoritarian policy outcomes? I pr...

In this paper it is proposed that one way of integrating what we know of the sociology of violence into a framework of individual action is to consider violent behaviour from a rational choice perspective. It is argued that conceptualising violence as the outcome of a rational choice or a decision on the part of the offender illuminates the goal directed, instrumental character of violence. A n...

Suppose a strict preference relation fails to possess maximal elements, so that a choice is not clearly defined. I propose to delete particular instances of strict preferences until the resulting relation satisfies one of a number of known regularity properties (transitivity, acyclicity, or negative transitivity), and to unify the choices generated by different orders of deletion. Removal of st...

A park and ride facility provides an option to car drivers to park their cars and switch to public transportation for the remaining portions of their trips. Although park and ride has been implemented in many cities in the United States and integrated with different modes of transportation, no comprehensive approach has been developed in published literature to assess the feasibility of a poten...