ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses different degrees of instrumental irrationality, including ways to socially construct and reduce them internally. Instrumental rationality is dominant in the understanding of economists and scholars in public or business administration when they refer to rationality. The concept of instrumental rationality is more discussed than expressive and social rationality, especially by scholars who have studied bounded forms of instrumental rationality. In the two debated topics – airport extension and introducing flex-work arrangements in organizations – instrumental rationality dominates both in number of arguments presented in the articles and in the importance of instrumental-rational arguments that support the decision. Instrumental rationality in the Heathrow debate is visible in arguments by proponents that stress the positive economic effects caused by expansion. The economic significance of airport expansion, which is the proponents' most given argument, is rather played down by opponents rebutting the economic growth argument: most airline users are outbound leisure travellers.
