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What Are Axiomatizations Good For?

Author

Listed:
  • Itzhak Gilboa

    (HEC, Paris, and Tel-Aviv University)

  • Andrew Postlewaite

    (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania)

  • Larry Samuelson

    (Department of Economics, Yale University)

  • David Schmeidler

    (Tel-Aviv University)

Abstract

In light of the interest in axiomatic models of decision making in recent years, one is led to ask, in what ways do axiomatic derivations advance positive economics? If economists are interested in predicting how people behave, without a pretense to change individual decision making, how can they benefit from representation theorems, which are no more than equivalence results? We address these questions. We propose several ways in which representation results can be useful and discuss their potential implications for axiomatic decision theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Itzhak Gilboa & Andrew Postlewaite & Larry Samuelson & David Schmeidler, 2018. "What Are Axiomatizations Good For?," PIER Working Paper Archive 18-026, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 22 Oct 2018.
    • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:18-026
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Evan Sadler, 2021. "A Practical Guide to Updating Beliefs From Contradictory Evidence," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(1), pages 415-436, January.
    2. Aldo Montesano, 2022. "On the economic foundations of decision theory," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 563-583, October.
    3. Gilles Boevi Koumou & Georges Dionne, 2022. "Coherent Diversification Measures in Portfolio Theory: An Axiomatic Foundation," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, October.
    4. He, Ying & Dyer, James S. & Butler, John C. & Jia, Jianmin, 2019. "An additive model of decision making under risk and ambiguity," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 78-92.
    5. Denis Bouyssou & Thierry Marchant & Marc Pirlot, 2023. "A theoretical look at Electre Tri-nB and related sorting models," 4OR, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-31, March.
    6. Ganesh Karapakula, 2022. "An Axiomatic Framework for Cost-Benefit Analysis," Papers 2207.13033, arXiv.org.
    7. Denis Bouyssou & Thierry Marchant & Marc Pirlot, 2020. "A theoretical look at ELECTRE TRI-nB," Working Papers hal-02917994, HAL.
    8. Moscati, Ivan, 2021. "On the recent philosophy of decision theory," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115039, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Lorenzo Bastianello & Jos'e Heleno Faro, 2019. "Time discounting under uncertainty," Papers 1911.00370, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2020.
    10. Denis Bouyssou & Thierry Marchant & Marc Pirlot, 2020. "A theoretical look at ELECTRE TRI-nB," Working Papers hal-02898131, HAL.
    11. Ruodu Wang & Ričardas Zitikis, 2021. "An Axiomatic Foundation for the Expected Shortfall," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1413-1429, March.
    12. Zhanyi Jiao & Steven Kou & Yang Liu & Ruodu Wang, 2022. "An axiomatic theory for anonymized risk sharing," Papers 2208.07533, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Axiomatization; Philosophy; Economic Theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology
    • D0 - Microeconomics - - General

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