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Utility functions on locally connected spaces

2003; Elsevier BV; Volume: 40; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0304-4068(03)00085-5

1873-1538

Juan C. Candeal, Esteban Induráin, Ghanshyam B. Mehta,

Economic Theory and Institutions

We investigate the role of local connectedness in utility theory and prove that any continuous total preorder on a locally connected separable space is continuously representable. This is a new simple criterion for the representability of continuous preferences, and is not a consequence of the standard theorems in utility theory that use conditions such as connectedness and separability, second countability, or path-connectedness. Finally we give applications to problems involving the existence of value functions in population ethics and to the problem of proving the existence of continuous utility functions in general equilibrium models with land as one of the commodities.