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Neutrality in arrow and other impossibility theorems

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  • Luis Ubeda

Abstract

Although not assumed explicitly, we show that neutrality plays an important role in Arrow and other impossibility theorems. Applying it to pivotal voters we produce direct proofs of classical impossibility theorems, including Arrow's, as well as extend some of these theorems. We further explore the role of neutrality showing that it is equivalent to Pareto or reverse Pareto, and to effective dictatorship for non-null social welfare functions satisfying the principle of independence of irrelevant alternatives. It is also equivalent to Wilson's Citizens' Sovereignty--which is related to the intuition that symmetry over alternatives makes social preference depend only on citizens' preferences. We show that some of these results are more fundamental than others in that they extend both to infinite societies and to considerably smaller domains of preferences. Finally, as an application of Arrow's theorem, we provide a simple proof of the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2003

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Ubeda, 2003. "Neutrality in arrow and other impossibility theorems," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 23(1), pages 195-204, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:23:y:2003:i:1:p:195-204
    DOI: 10.1007/s00199-002-0353-0
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jamal Nazrul Islam & Haradhan Kumar Mohajan & Pahlaj Moolio, 2009. "Preference of Social Choice in Mathematical Economics," Indus Journal of Management & Social Science (IJMSS), Department of Business Administration, vol. 3(1), pages 18-38, June.
    2. Susumu Cato, 2010. "Brief proofs of Arrovian impossibility theorems," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 35(2), pages 267-284, July.
    3. Cato, Susumu, 2018. "Incomplete decision-making and Arrow’s impossibility theorem," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 58-64.
    4. Susumu Cato, 2012. "Social choice without the Pareto principle: a comprehensive analysis," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 39(4), pages 869-889, October.
    5. Susumu Cato, 2013. "Alternative proofs of Arrow’s general possibility theorem," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 1(2), pages 131-137, November.
    6. Torres, Ricard, 2005. "Limiting Dictatorial rules," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 913-935, November.
    7. Noguchi, Mitsunori, 2011. "Generic impossibility of Arrow’s impossibility theorem," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(4-5), pages 391-400.
    8. John W. Patty & Elizabeth Maggie Penn, 2019. "A defense of Arrow’s independence of irrelevant alternatives," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 145-164, April.

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