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Interpersonal comparison necessary for Arrovian aggregation

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  • Hirofumi Yamamura

    (Hokusei Gakuen University)

Abstract

While studies of social welfare functionals have shown that some interpersonal comparability such as ordinal and level comparability and cardinal and unit comparability resolves Arrow’s impossibility theorem, the kind of information necessary to solve this issue remains unclear. To address this shortcoming in the body of knowledge on this topic, the present study captures and then characterizes the features of informational structures that make available social welfare functionals satisfying Strong Pareto, Anonymity, and Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives. We know from this characterization that if utility levels are not interpersonally comparable, then transformed utility functions by a certain transformation need to be cardinal and unit comparable.

Suggested Citation

  • Hirofumi Yamamura, 2017. "Interpersonal comparison necessary for Arrovian aggregation," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 49(1), pages 37-64, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sochwe:v:49:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s00355-017-1048-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s00355-017-1048-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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