Quasi-separable preferences

Wei-zhi Qin and Hendrik Rommeswinkel
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Wei-zhi Qin: National Taiwan University

Theory and Decision, 2024, vol. 96, issue 4, No 3, 555-595

Abstract: Abstract Utility functions often lack additive separability, presenting an obstacle for decision theoretic axiomatizations. We address this challenge by providing a representation theorem for utility functions of quasi-separable preferences of the form $$u(x,y,z)=f(x,z) + g(y,z)$$ u ( x , y , z ) = f ( x , z ) + g ( y , z ) on subsets of topological product spaces. These functions are additively separable only when holding z fixed but are cardinally comparable for different values of z. We then generalize the result to spaces with more than three dimensions and provide applications to belief elicitation, inequity aversion, intertemporal choice, and rank-dependent utility.

Keywords: Utility; Preferences; Additive separability; Conditional separability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11238-023-09962-8

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