What is Bounded Rationality?

By Ananth Seshadri3 min read · Posted Oct 7, 2023

269
Views

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Bounded Rationality refers to “a wide range of descriptive, normative, and prescriptive accounts of effective behavior which depart from the assumptions of perfect rationality.” Many investors with bounded rationality tendencies often attempt to satisfy themselves rather than optimize their choices from a more significant and long-term perspective. Simply put, they choose a decision considered decent enough rather than the best possible one.

Bounded Rationality Examples

According to Profit.Co, a general example of bounded rationality is “when emotions and other prejudices influence people.” For example, one can get influenced by economic biases rather than natural logic when making decisions. This will cause happy people to make risky decisions rather than somewhat agitated people. Consequently, people will make substandard decisions, which can impact their investment or organization in the short and long term.

Another instance in which bounded rationality occurs is when people encounter complex problems, such as choosing the most suitable investment strategy. Since there is a plethora of information needed to judge, it becomes significantly more challenging for people to make the right choices.

Effects of Bounded Rationality

According to The Decision Lab, bounded rationality can “cause us to make decisions that satisfy us in the short-term, either because we are biased by immediate gratification, or because we do not have the capacity or time to calculate the long-term costs of our decisions."

However, due to individual cognitive constraints, it is hard to assess numerous information varieties to make a rational decision properly. This, in turn, makes one choose insufficient decisions. Although these decisions may be rational regarding the limited information one realistically looks at, they may not be sensible about the broad and diverse range of accessible information in the world.

Although it is hard to adhere to perfect sound economic and behavioral tendencies, bounded rationality causes individuals to make decisions inconsistent with their ideal goals. This is also prominent in organizations that emphasize proper financial decision-making principles. Still, they often overlook that the individuals that make these decisions have irrational economic tendencies since they are influenced by factors other than pure logic. This can lead companies to make satisfactory decisions rather than the ones best for their short- and long-term futures. Therefore, the rationality of decision-makers in companies is constrained by the expectation to prioritize the company's interests over their own.

Bounded Rationality Importance

Bounded rationality is significant because it helps individuals understand the limitations of rational decision-making. It highlights how individuals often face certain constraints, including limited information, time, and cognitive abilities, when making choices. By understanding bounded rationality, we can further comprehend why people may not always make perfectly rational decisions. Bounded rationality can be used to underline the limitations of individuals and organizations when analyzing numerous variables of information during a decision-making process. Bounded rationality prompts one to make good enough decisions rather than impeccable ones. While one can relatively control bounded rationality, it can consequently prompt them to analyze decisions logically, which can further benefit themselves or their organizations in the short and long term.

Conclusion

Overall, bounded rationality emphasizes the importance of considering cognitive restrictions and the realities of decision-making in numerous situations and contexts. We can strive for more realistic and practical decision-making approaches by acknowledging and understanding these limitations.

References

About The Author

Ananth Seshadri

11
Articles
5006
Total Views
12
Total Likes
1
Total Shares

Hello, I am Ananth Seshadri, an Article Writer at Pitch Labs! I am interested in law and love to write articles about impactful topics. With my passion and dedication, I hope to captivate and inspire people in the present and future with my writing.

See more posts by Ananth Seshadri

Comments

More in Operations


Operations » Human Resources

What is the Equity Theory of motivation?

by Jyothirmayee Vishnusekhar ·Jul 5, 2024

46
Views

We investigate the importance of motivation theories in complex work environments and outline major conclusions from the equity theory of motivation. Read more

Operations » Human Resources

What is moral intensity and what factors affect it?

by Roxanne Guiney ·Jul 1, 2024

25
Views

The moral intensity model suggests that people make ethical decisions based on six factors of a moral problem. Read more

Operations » Project Management Tools

What is the four gate model of entrepreneurship?

by Jyothirmayee Vishnusekhar ·Jun 21, 2024

26
Views

The entrepreneurship journey is pictured as having four stages/gates, starting at the idea gate and ending at the exit gate, and critical features are explained. Read more

Operations » Human Resources

What is an Employee Evaluation and What Is Its Evaluation process?

by Hadrat Ajao ·May 22, 2024

382
Views

An employee evaluation is used to rate an employee's areas of strength and need for improvement. It involves preparation, evaluation meeting, evaluation report, follow-up, documentation and implementation, and continuous feedback. Read more

Recent articles


Legal » Protections

What is the BBB - Better Business Bureau?

by Mark Schmidt ·Jul 26, 2024

3
Views

Find out what the BBB does, how trustworthy it is, and whether its accreditation is best for you and your company. Read more

Financial » Funding

How do business or companies get funded?

by Jyothirmayee Vishnusekhar ·Jul 24, 2024

16
Views

Funding is vital for start-ups & companies to get off the ground. What you need to know about funding your companies/businesses is analyzed & compared. Read more

Marketing » Advertising

How to effectively use promotion and marketing strategies

by Degreat Michael ·Jul 22, 2024

12
Views

Learn about promotional marketing strategies for businesses (small and big). You’ll discover the difference between promotion and marketing and more. Read more

Financial » Investing

What is a stockholder? What are shares?

by Favour Ndime ·Jul 19, 2024

18
Views

Stockholders own shares of a company which entitles them to vote, receive dividends, and enjoy gains from stock price increase. This article further describes stockholder rights and responsibilities, and the differences between common vs. preferred stock Read more

Join Our Community


Looking for something else? Get your questions answered in our free online learning community!

Entrepreneurial Resources


Jumpstart your next business with our free resource library.

Disclaimer


Our organization cannot give out official legal/fiscal guidance. All articles are written by volunteers and it may be beneficial to contact professionals to assist your understanding of the information and to guide your action. Pitch Labs bears no responsibility for the results of actions taken based off of article content or any other form of assistance given.