BEYOND REVEALED PREFERENCE: CHOICE-THEORETIC FOUNDATIONS FOR BEHAVIORAL WELFARE ECONOMICS
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Bernheim, B. Douglas; Rangel, Antonio
署名单位：
Stanford University; California Institute of Technology; National Bureau of Economic Research
刊物名称：
QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
ISSN/ISSBN：
0033-5533
DOI：
10.1162/qjec.2009.124.1.51
发表日期：
2009
页码：
51-104
关键词：
摘要：
We propose a broad generalization of standard choice-theoretic welfare economics that encompasses a wide variety of nonstandard behavioral models. Our approach exploits the coherent aspects of choice that those positive models typically attempt to capture. It replaces the standard revealed preference relation with an unambiguous choice relation: roughly, x is ( strictly) unambiguously chosen over y (written xP*y) iff y is never chosen when x is available. Under weak assumptions, P* is acyclic and therefore suitable for welfare analysis; it is also the most discerning welfare criterion that never overrules choice. The resulting framework generates natural counterparts for the standard tools of applied welfare economics and is easily applied in the context of specific behavioral theories, with novel implications. Though not universally discerning, it lends itself to principled refinements.