On Revealed Preference Analysis
On Revealed Preference Analysis
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论显示性偏好分析
DOI：
10.2307/2297089
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发表时间：
1978
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
A. Mas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
A. Mas
在本文中，我们将关注显示偏好理论，它被理解为原始意义上的（萨缪尔森[19]），也就是说，作为竞争市场条件下理性消费者行为的理论;（见里希特[18]关于一般抽象理论的表述和发展）。与实际上所有以前的工作在该领域，我们将集中在需求理论之间的关系，从显示偏好分析和基于偏好最大化的一个，我们表示为偏好假设的理论。1938年，萨缪尔森提出了弱显示偏好公理（weak axiom of revealed preference，WA）作为消费者理论的新基础; WA断言，如果一个商品组合y是可负担的，给定一个选择x的预算（简而言之，如果x被显示为优于y），那么y不能被显示为优于x。尽管事实证明，WA所隐含的需求理论比偏好假设所产生的需求理论更广泛（Gale [6];另见Kihlstrom，Mas-Colell，Sonnenschein [14]），但很明显，它们在概念上是接近的，它们的关系需要澄清。1951年，Houthakker迈出了决定性的一步[10]。他引入了显示偏好（SA）的强公理，并令人信服地论证了它与偏好假设的等价性。粗略地说，SA假设WA的周期一致性。由于Houthakker的贡献，研究的主线（见，例如，Uzawa [22]，Stigum [21]等）集中在寻找充分条件的需求功能，保证消费者作为一个偏好最大化和他的喜好是完全“决定“的他的选择行为。这个方案要求存在作为选择基础的偏好，以及它们在某个类（通常是由连续性定义的类）中的唯一性。很明显，为了成功地完成这个方案，必须对需求函数（当然，除了SA）施加条件。到目前为止，通过将一个实质性的要求，即间接需求函数的良好确定性，与一个相当弱的规律性要求，即收入Lipschitz性质（这个术语将在后面定义）相结合，已经获得了积极的结果。
In this paper we shall be concerned with the theory of revealed preference understood in its original sense (Samuelson [19]), namely, as a theory of rational consumer's behaviour in competitive market situations; (see Richter [18] for the formulation and development of a general, abstract theory). As with practically all previous work in the field we will focus on the relationship between the theory of demand derived from revealed preference analysis and the one based on preference maximization; we denote the latter theory as the preference hypothesis. In 1938 Samuelson proposed as a new foundation for consumer theory the weak axiom of revealed preference (WA); the WA asserts that if a commodity bundle y is affordable, given a budget at which x is chosen (for short, if x is revealed preferred to y), then y cannot be revealed preferred to x. Although it has turned out that the demand theory implied by the WA is broader than the one generated by the preference hypothesis (Gale [6]; see also, Kihlstrom, Mas-Colell, Sonnenschein [14]) it is clear that they are conceptually close and their relationships were in need of clarification. The decisive step was given in 1951 by Houthakker [10]. He introduced the strong axiom of revealed preference (SA) and convincingly argued its equivalences with the preference hypothesis. Roughly speaking, the SA postulates the cyclical consistence of the WA. Since Houthakker's contribution the main line of research (see, for example, Uzawa [22], Stigum [21], etc.) has concentrated in finding sufficient conditions on demand functions guaranteeing that the consumer acts as a preference maximizer and his preferences are completely " determined " by his choice behaviour. This programme calls for both the existence of preferences underlying choice and their uniqueness in some class (usually the class defined by the property of continuity) and it is clear that, to successfully complete it, conditions on demand functions (besides, of course, the SA) will have to be imposed. So far, positive results have been obtained by combining a substantive requirement, the well definiteness of indirect demand functions, with a quite weak regularity one, the income Lipschitz property (this term will be defined later on).