A Pedagogical Proof of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem

Valentino Dardanoni ()

University of California at San Diego, Economics Working Paper Series from Department of Economics, UC San Diego

Abstract: In this note I consider a simple proof of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem (Arrow 1963). I start with the case of three individuals who have preferences on three alternatives. In this special case there are 133=2197 possible combinations of the three individuals' rational preferences. However, by considering the subset of linear preferences, and employing the full strength of the IIA axiom, I reduce the number of cases necessary to completely describe the SWF to a small number, allowing an elementary proof suitable for most undergraduate students.

Keywords: Arrow's; Impossibility; Theorem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999-12-01
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Journal Article: A pedagogical proof of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem (2001)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cdl:ucsdec:qt96n108ts

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