A sequentially rationalizable choice function is a choice function that can be retrieved by applying sequentially to each choice problem the same fixed set of asymmetric binary relations (rationales) to remove inferior alternatives. These concepts translate into economic language some human choice heuristics studied in psychology and explain cyclical patterns of choice observed in experiments. We study some properties of sequential rationalizability and provide a full characterization of choice functions rationalizable by two and three rationales. (JEL D01).

We propose a boundedly rational model of choice where agents categorize alternatives before choosing. The model explains some behavioral anomalies, and it is fully characterized by a property of choice data: a categorizer can never exhibit certain patterns of “revealed preference reversals”. This model offers clues on the problem of making welfare judgements in the presence of boundedly rational agents.

In Tversky's (1969) model of a lexicographic semiorder, a preference is generated via the sequential application of numerical criteria by declaring an alternative x better than an alternative y if the first criterion that distinguishes between x and y ranks x higher than y by an amount exceeding a fixed threshold. We generalize this idea to a fully fledged model of boundedly rational choice. We explore the connection with sequential rationalizability of choice (Apesteguia and Ballester 2010, Apesteguia and Ballester 2010) and we provide axiomatic characterizations of both models in terms of observable choice data.

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