Choice by elimination then selection

Keshav Sureka and Debabrata Pal

Research in Economics, 2024, vol. 78, issue 3

Abstract: This paper analyzes a decision-making process known as Choice by Elimination then Selection (ES), in which an individual narrows down available alternatives based on a preference order called the elimination relation and then selects the best element from the remaining alternative(s) based on a different preference order called the selection relation. The elimination and selection criteria need not rank alternatives in the same order. ES can be seen as a response to information overload, where shortlisting alternatives can facilitate more informed and beneficial choices. It can also be seen as a method to make a choice when moral or personal values are in the way of utility maximization. The paper uses an axiomatic approach to fully characterize the choices based on the ES method, showing that ES choices may not satisfy the Weak Axiom of Revealed Preference (WARP) and, thus, are not rationalizable under the standard classical framework. Four axioms are introduced to fully characterize the choice correspondence based on ES. The paper also discusses the uniqueness of the elimination and selection ordering relations. The ES method belongs to the class of models that analyze boundedly rational choice behavior, such as choice with frames, limited attention models, list rationalizable models, categorize then choose, and status quo bias.

Keywords: Sequential rationalizability; Bounded rationality; Axiomatic approach; Menu dependence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D01 D11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:reecon:v:78:y:2024:i:3:s1090944324000309

DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2024.100966

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