REASON BASED CHOICE AND CONTEXT DEPENDENCE: AN EXPLANATORY FRAMEWORK
Abstract: We introduce a 'reason based' framework for explaining and predicting individual choices. The key idea is that a decision maker focuses on some but not all properties of the options and chooses an option whose 'motivationally salient' properties he/she most prefers. Reason based explanations can capture two kinds of context dependent choice: (i) the motivationally salient properties may vary across choice contexts, and (ii) they may include 'context related' properties, not just 'intrinsic' properties of the options. Our framework allows us to explain boundedly rational and sophisticated choice behaviour. Since properties can be recombined in new ways, it also offers resources for predicting choices in unobserved contexts.
Economics and Philosophy