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General Revealed Preferences

Author

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  • Cesar Martinelli

    (Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science and Department of Economics, George Mason University)

  • Mikhail Freer

    (Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science and Department of Economics, George Mason University)

Abstract

Following Richter (1966), we provide criteria under which a preference relation implied by a finite set of choice observations has a complete extension that can in turn be represented by a utility function. These criteria rely on a mapping over preference relations, the rational closure, which is a generalization of the transitive closure and is employed to construct the complete extension. We illustrate this approach by re- visiting the problem of rationalizing incomplete preferences revealed by a sequence of consumption decisions under different budget sets. Our result relaxes the usual assumptions about the consumption space and the structure of budgets generating the observed choices, and allows for a new interpretation of classical revealed preference axioms.Length: 20

Suggested Citation

  • Cesar Martinelli & Mikhail Freer, 2016. "General Revealed Preferences," Working Papers 1059, George Mason University, Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science, revised Jun 2016.
    • Handle: RePEc:gms:wpaper:1059
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    File URL: http://www.gmu.edu/schools/chss/economics/icesworkingpapers.gmu.edu/pdf/1059.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Mikhail Freer & César Martinelli, 2023. "An algebraic approach to revealed preference," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 75(3), pages 717-742, April.
    4. Allen, Roy & Dziewulski, Paweł & Rehbeck, John, 2022. "Making sense of monkey business: Re-examining tests of animal rationality," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 220-228.

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