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Is strategic decision making chaotic?
Author(s) -
Richards Diana
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 0005-7940
DOI - 10.1002/bs.3830350305
Subject(s) - chaotic , interdependence , management science , chaos theory , politics , empirical evidence , process (computing) , positive economics , economics , microeconomics , mathematical economics , computer science , sociology , epistemology , political science , management , social science , philosophy , law , operating system
Collective decision making in politics or economics often involves strategic behavior, where decisions at the individual or subgroup level are contingent upon the choices and actions of others. This structure of interdependency implies a nonlinear process. Because the dynamics of chaotic systems are nonlinear, chaos theory has recently begun to attract attention as a potential model in the social sciences. However, these preliminary discussions have not been empirically supported. This article presents experimental and empirical evidence that strategic decision making can indeed exhibit chaotic behavior.