Empiricism in Herbert Simon: Administrative Behavior within the evolution of the models of bounded and procedural rationality

Abstract

This paper contextualizes Simon's book, Administrative Behavior, within the evolution of his ideas arguing, contrary to what some have posited, that the common element that unites this book with the rest of Simon's work is not the criticism of the classical approach, but an epistemological frame, based on an empirical methodology. This empiricism is the element that remained constant during his career and led him to introduce psychological factors when explaining the behavior of economic agents under his models of bounded and procedural rationality.