The transitive core: Inference of welfare from nontransitive preference relations

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Nishimura, Hiroki
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Riverside
• 刊物名称: THEORETICAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1555-7561
• DOI: 10.3982/TE1769
• 发表日期: 2018-05-01
• 页码: 579-606
• 关键词: Nontransitive preferences; welfare; bounded rationality

摘要

In this paper, we study methods of inferring a decision maker's true preference relation when observed choice data reveal a nontransitive preference relation due to choice mistakes. We propose some sensible properties of such methods and show that these properties characterize a unique rule of inference, called the transitive core. This rule is applied to a variety of nontransitive preference models, such as semiorders on the commodity space, relative discounting time preferences, justifiable preferences over ambiguous acts, regret preferences over risky prospects, and collective preferences induced by majority voting. We show that the transitive core offers a nontrivial and reasonable inference of the decision maker's true preference relation in these contexts.