Inferring welfare from inconsistent choices: how values matter

Guilhem Lecouteux () and Ivan Mitrouchev ()
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Guilhem Lecouteux: UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur, GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur, COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019)
Ivan Mitrouchev: GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes

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Abstract: There is no consensus on how to infer welfare from inconsistent choices. We argue that theorists must be explicit about the values they endorse to characterize individual welfare. After formalizing a set of values and their relationship with context-independent choices, we review the literature and discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each approach. We demonstrate that defining welfare a priori may violate normative individualism, arguably the most desirable value to maintain. To uphold this value while addressing individuals' errors, we propose a weaker version of consumer sovereignty, which we label ‘consumer autonomy'.

Keywords: Choice; Context; Preference; Values; Welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05-19
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Published in Economics and Philosophy, 2025, pp.1-24. ⟨10.1017/S0266267125000094⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05167776

DOI: 10.1017/S0266267125000094

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