Revealed Preference Theory, Ordering and the Axiom of Sequential Path Independence
1988; Oxford University Press; Volume: 55; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/2297585
ISSN1467-937X
Autores Tópico(s)Economic theories and models
ResumoThis paper is concerned with the axiomatic foundation of the theory of choice. Describing a choice procedure which one often observes in real life, this paper shows that the requirement of path independence of such a procedure is a necessary and sufficient condition for transitive or full rationalization of a choice function, i.e. the existence of a preference ordering. It is shown that our result holds when rationality is identified with different interpretations of the binary relations of preference revealed by a choice function, e.g. the revealed preference relation of Arrow, the wide revealed preference relation of Richter. It is also shown that a weaker version of our path independence condition is both necessary and sufficient for a rational choice.
Referência(s)