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Arrow's Theorem and Turing Computability

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  • H. Reiju Mihara

    (Kagawa University)

Abstract

A social welfare function for a denumerable society satisfies {Pairwise Computability} if for each pair (x, y) of alternatives, there exists an algorithm that can decide from any description of each profile on {x,y} whether the society prefers x to y. I prove that if a social welfare function satisfying Unanimity and Independence also satisfies Pairwise Computability, then it is dictatorial. This result severely limits on practical grounds Fishburn's resolution~(1970) of Arrow's impossibility. I also give an interpretation of a denumerable ``society.'' {Keywords} Arrow impossibility theorem, Hayek's knowledge problem, algorithms, recursion theory, ultrafilters.

Suggested Citation

  • H. Reiju Mihara, 1994. "Arrow's Theorem and Turing Computability," Public Economics 9408001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Aug 1998.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:9408001
    Note: LaTeX2.09 file; Appeared in Economic Theory 10, 257--276 (1997)
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. H. Reiju Mihara, 1997. "Anonymity and neutrality in Arrow's Theorem with restricted coalition algebras," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 14(4), pages 503-512.
    2. Spear, Stephen E, 1989. "Learning Rational Expectations under Computability Constraints," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(4), pages 889-910, July.
    3. Fishburn, Peter C., 1970. "Arrow's impossibility theorem: Concise proof and infinite voters," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 103-106, March.
    4. H. Reiju Mihara, 2001. "Existence of a coalitionally strategyproof social choice function: A constructive proof," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 18(3), pages 543-553.
    5. Kelly, Jerry S., 1988. "Social choice and computational complexity," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 1-8, February.
    6. Lewis, Alain A., 1988. "An infinite version of arrow's theorem in the effective setting," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 41-48, August.
    7. Arrow, Kenneth J, 1986. "Rationality of Self and Others in an Economic System," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(4), pages 385-399, October.
    8. Hausman, Daniel M & McPherson, Michael S, 1993. "Taking Ethics Seriously: Economics and Contemporary Moral Philosophy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 671-731, June.
    9. Armstrong, Thomas E., 1980. "Arrow's theorem with restricted coalition algebras," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 55-75, March.
    10. Armstrong, Thomas E., 1985. "Precisely dictatorial social welfare functions : Erratum and Addendum to `arrows theorem with restricted coalition algebras'," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 57-59, February.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kumabe, Masahiro & Mihara, H. Reiju, 2011. "Preference aggregation theory without acyclicity: The core without majority dissatisfaction," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 187-201, May.
    2. Masahiro Kumabe & H. Reiju Mihara, 2008. "The Nakamura numbers for computable simple games," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 31(4), pages 621-640, December.
    3. Kumabe, Masahiro & Mihara, H. Reiju, 2008. "Computability of simple games: A characterization and application to the core," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3-4), pages 348-366, February.
    4. Mihara, H. Reiju, 2004. "Nonanonymity and sensitivity of computable simple games," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 329-341, November.
    5. Bossert, Walter & Cato, Susumu, 2020. "Acyclicity, anonymity, and prefilters," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 134-141.
    6. Kumabe, Masahiro & Mihara, H. Reiju, 2011. "Computability of simple games: A complete investigation of the sixty-four possibilities," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 150-158, March.
    7. Andrei Gomberg & César Martinelli & Ricard Torres, 2005. "Anonymity in large societies," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 25(1), pages 187-205, October.
    8. H. Reiju Mihara, 1997. "Arrow's Theorem, countably many agents, and more visible invisible dictators," Public Economics 9705001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Jun 2004.
    9. Norbert Brunner & H. Reiju Mihara, 1999. "Arrow's theorem, Weglorz' models and the axiom of choice," Public Economics 9902001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Jun 2004.
    10. Hannu Salonen & Kari Saukkonen, 2005. "On continuity of Arrovian social welfare functions," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 25(1), pages 85-93, October.
    11. Mihara, H. Reiju, 2017. "Characterizing the Borda ranking rule for a fixed population," MPRA Paper 78093, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Yasuhito Tanaka, 2009. "On the computability of quasi-transitive binary social choice rules in an infinite society and the halting problem," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 32(1), pages 67-78, May.
    13. Grainger, Daniel & Stoeckl, Natalie, 2019. "The importance of social learning for non-market valuation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    14. Susumu Cato, 2020. "Quasi-stationary social welfare functions," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 89(1), pages 85-106, July.
    15. Mihara, H. Reiju, 1999. "Arrow's theorem, countably many agents, and more visible invisible dictators1," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 267-287, November.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • C69 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Other
    • D89 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Other

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