MODELS OF RATIONALITY IN THE INDIVIDUALS’ BEHAVIOR AND CHOICE OF MAJORS OF STUDY IN UNIVERSITIES
The modern approaches to the rationality of individuals behavior with taking into account the level of awareness on the example of the market of services of higher education in Russia and its regions in conditions of Unified State Examination (USE) are analyzed. The advantages and disadvantages of different models of rationality in decision-making on the selection of goods and services are studied. It is affirmed that information about the higher education services should be considered a public good, as it has the properties of non-excludability and non-rivalry in consumption. The authors come to conclusion that an unbalanced demand for certain fields of study is concerned with traditional social values, which should be formed in the regional markets of higher education. The results of the research conducted during the regional admission campaign of the universities of the Buryat Republic in 2014 were used. The data on the quality of admission in the regional universities are analyzed, the demand on the majors of study in regional universities among the applicants and the majors with the most admission quotas for study in the public universities of the region at the expense of the federal budget. The risks of keeping current trends in regional systems of higher education are assessed.