ABSTRACT
There is much research providing evidence that differences in demographic and financial profiles lead to different extent of rationality. For instance, Choi et al. (2011) use a degree of consistency combined with utility maximization to compare individuals with different socioeconomic characteristics on the basis of decision-making quality. According to their findings, male, young, high-educated and high-income subjects make consistent choices more often, thereby wasting less of their earnings. While analyzing addiction to smoking, Chaloupka (1991) concludes that lower educated or younger people make their current cigarette consumption dependent on the past consumption. At the same time the influence of future consumption is ignored which implies that these individuals behave myopically. On the other hand, more educated or older people prove to be more prudent because they take into account both past and future consumption while deciding how many cigarettes to consume at present. During analysis of shopping behavior of Denver families, Dean & Martin (2014) have found that households reaching retirement age and those which are headed by more than one person are more rational.
