Rationality and Rule Following: On Procedural and Consequential Interests of the Rule-guided Individual

The purpose of this paper is to examine connections between rationality and rule following, and to propose that a distinction between consequential and procedural interests can help us in explaining rule following behaviour. Simon (1955, 1978) maintains that when modelling rationality, more attention should be directed to the processes by which the actor arrives at choices — instead of preoccupying solely with the results of rational choice. Whatever methods the chooser is assumed to be using when rationally deciding upon an appropriate course of action, it appears that rules play a central role in such processes (e.g., search rules, threshold rules for defining satisficing levels, etc.). Limited or bounded rationality examined solely with respect to the consequences of rational choice remains as tautological as rationality in its omniscient version.