Extended preferences and freedom of choice

Shmuel Nitzan and Eyal Baharad

Social Choice and Welfare, 2000, vol. 17, issue 4, 629-637

Abstract: The common choice theory in economics is based on the assumption that an individual is defined in terms of a binary preference relation. This preference relation is defined over alternatives without taking into account menu dependence and, in particular, freedom of choice or, more generally, the set that contains the alternatives. In this study we clarify the nature and the significance of freedom of choice which may positively or negatively affect the individual's welfare. Our proposed extended preference relation of the individual takes into account both the particular alternative and the opportunity set that he faces. This extended relation does not induce ranking of opportunity sets. Its restriction to a particular opportunity set is the paradigmatic preference relation and it can capture the dependence of preferences on freedom of choice. Our main result establishes the inconsistency between dependence of extended preferences on freedom of choice and the existence of a utility that represents the paradigmatic preference relation and any of its restrictions.

Date: 2000-08-02
Note: Received: 30 December 1997/Accepted: 6 September 1999
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