decision

In EE actors do not choose but decide, which means that the decide facing conflicting >needs and the problem of >time, faced with an uncertain future.

In EE, rules of decision help to choose between conflicting needs, to save on decision time, to commit an actor to particular actions in strategic interdependence and to cope with an uncertain future. In most of these respects, choice is not rational in terms of the calculation of subjective costs and benefits, although EE assigns an important role to the opportunity cost concept. The concept of "bounded rationality" is an important milestone in developing this new view of human choice as decisions, but still not sufficient. Human behavior is reasonable, but not rational (>reason). This does include decsions based on referential knowledge and on opportunity costs, but without reference to the logical structure of utility functions.

Research into decision behavior is therefore an empirical discipline: Hence, experimental economics is an important field in EE. For example, researchers have discovered some algorithms which seem to underly human decisions almost universally.

Basic References

This view has been developed by Evolutionary Psychology, see
Gerd Gigerenzer, ed.: Adaptive Thinking: Rationality in the Real World, New York: Oxford University Press 2000.

For some information about decision behavior, evolutionary psychology and experimental economics, visit the websites:
Evolutionary Psychology
Some more on that
Roth's website
Experimental Economics
Ecological Rationality

Semantic Field
decision   need
opportunity cost