Even when errors are only random noise, modeling people as rational is different from modeling people as rational on average with random errors. If people are rational, that implies that someone with a dangerous job has properly taken the risks into account when choosing the job. But if people are rational on average with random errors, then the person who ends up with a dangerous job is probably someone who underestimated/underweighted the risks (which is a case of the winner’s curse).
It’s standard econometric practice to assume (at the very least) an error term independent of the predictor variables. That error term can be a function of any number of unobserved factors. If unbiased human error were a major component in the variance of our actions, it would be picked up in this error term.
Even when errors are only random noise, modeling people as rational is different from modeling people as rational on average with random errors. If people are rational, that implies that someone with a dangerous job has properly taken the risks into account when choosing the job. But if people are rational on average with random errors, then the person who ends up with a dangerous job is probably someone who underestimated/underweighted the risks (which is a case of the winner’s curse).
It’s standard econometric practice to assume (at the very least) an error term independent of the predictor variables. That error term can be a function of any number of unobserved factors. If unbiased human error were a major component in the variance of our actions, it would be picked up in this error term.
Are you thinking of something more specific?