Models of Decision-Making
Models of Decision-Making

Author: Paul Weirich

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-02-05

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 131624072X

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Classical decision theory evaluates entire worlds, specified so as to include everything a decision-maker cares about. Thus applying decision theory requires performing computations far beyond an ordinary decision-maker's ability. In this book Paul Weirich explains how individuals can simplify and streamline their choices. He shows how different 'parts' of options (intrinsic, temporal, spatiotemporal, causal) are separable, so that we can know what difference one part makes to the value of an option, regardless of what happens in the other parts. He suggests that the primary value of options is found in basic intrinsic attitudes towards outcomes: desires, aversions, or indifferences. And using these two facts he argues that we need only compare small parts of the options we face in order to make a rational decision. This important book will interest readers in decision theory, economics, and the behavioral sciences.

Rational Responses to Risks
Rational Responses to Risks

Author: Paul Weirich

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-07-10

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 0190089431

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Good decisions account for risks. For example, the risk of an accident while driving in the rain makes a reasonable driver decide to slow down. While risk is a large topic in theoretical disciplines such as economics and psychology, as well as in practical disciplines such as medicine and finance, philosophy has a unique contribution to make in developing a normative theory of risk that states what risk is, and to what extent our responses to it are rational. Weirich here develops a philosophical theory of the rationality of responses to risk. He first distinguishes two types of risk: first, a chance of a bad event, and second, an act's risk in relation to its possible outcomes. He argues that this distinction has normative significance in the sense that one's attitudes towards these types of risks - and how one acts on them - are governed by different general principles of rationality. Consequently, a comprehensive account of risk must not only characterize rational responses to risk but also explain why these responses are rational. Weirich explains how, for a rational ideal agent, the expected utilities of the acts available in a decision problem explain the agent's preferences among the acts. As a result, maximizing expected utility is just following preferences among the acts. His view takes an act's expected utility, not just as a feature of a representation of preferences among acts, but also as a factor in the explanation of preferences among acts. The book's precise formulation of general standards of rationality for attitudes and for acts, and its rigorous argumentation for these standards, make it philosophical; but while mainly of interest to philosophers, its broader arguments will contribute to the conceptual foundations of studies of risk in all disciplines that study it.

Applied Consumption Analysis
Applied Consumption Analysis

Author: L. Phlips

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1483298701

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This volume links the abstract theory of demand with its econometric implementation. Exercises lead the reader from elementary utility maximization to the most sophisticated recent techniques, highlighting the main steps in the historical evolution of the subject. The first part presents a brief discussion of duality and flexible forms, and in particular of Deaton and Muellbauer's ``almost ideal demand system''. Part two includes the author's work on true wage indexes, and on intertemporal utility maximization.

Collected Works of W.M. Gorman: Separability and aggregation
Collected Works of W.M. Gorman: Separability and aggregation

Author: William Moore Gorman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 9780198285212

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This volume brings together for the first time the important work of W.M. (Terence) Gorman, a major figure in the development of economics during the past 40 years. His publications on separability, aggregation, duality and demand are recongized as fundamental contributions to economic theory.

Handbook of Utility Theory
Handbook of Utility Theory

Author: Salvador Barbera

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 714

ISBN-13: 9780792381747

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The standard rationality hypothesis implies that behaviour can be represented as the maximization of a suitably restricted utility function. This hypothesis lies at the heart of a large body of recent work in economics, of course, but also in political science, ethics, and other major branches of social sciences. Though the utility maximization hypothesis is venerable, it remains an area of active research. Moreover, some fundamental conceptual problems remain unresolved, or at best have resolutions that are too recent to have achieved widespread understanding among social scientists. The main purpose of the Handbook of Utility Theory is to make recent developments in the area more accessible. The editors selected a number of specific topics, and invited contributions from researchers whose work had come to their attention. Therefore, the list of topics and contributions is largely the editors' responsibility. Each contributor's chapter has been refereed, and revised according to the referees' remarks. This is the first volume of a two volume set, with the second volume focusing on extensions of utility theory.

Demand System Specification and Estimation
Demand System Specification and Estimation

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0195356438

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This study of demand analysis links economic theory to empirical analysis. It demonstrates how theory can be used to specify equation systems suitable for empirical analysis, and discusses demand systems estimation using both per capita time series and household budget data.

Market Interrelationships and Applied Demand Analysis
Market Interrelationships and Applied Demand Analysis

Author: Michael K. Wohlgenant

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-06-28

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 3030731448

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This textbook addresses the core issues facing economists concerning price determination in commodity markets, especially food and agricultural commodities. This book hones in on the conceptual basis of the various relationships, with special emphasis on market interrelationships, both horizontally and vertically. This book covers key concepts such as consumer demand theory; quality, heterogeneous goods, and cross section demand; derived demand, marketing margins, and relationship between output and raw material prices; retail-to-farm demand linkages, imperfect competition, and short-run price determination; dynamic consumer demand; and dynamic models of the firm. What makes this textbook of particular use to students is its focus on bridging the gap between theory and empirical analysis. Going from theory to empirics requires that we have data—time series or cross section—that match the theoretical constructs. Often the data match is not perfect, either by definition or how the data are computed. In addition to problems of matching data with theoretical constructs, students and researchers need to know how to specify, estimate, and interpret results within the context of imperfect and often incomplete data. This textbook uses several data sets to illustrate how one might address problems in real-world settings. Furthermore, with exercises at the end of each chapter, students are able to test themselves on their ability to bring theory to life.

Microeconomics
Microeconomics

Author: R. Shone

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2014-05-10

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 1483258092

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Microeconomics: A Modern Treatment focuses on modern approaches to microeconomics. Alternative systems are discussed including input-output analysis as against neoclassical production theory. The theory of choice and the preference and utility approaches to consumer theory are also considered, along with linear and nonlinear theories of production, the theory of market demand and supply, and welfare economics. Comprised of 11 chapters, this book begins with an introduction to economic science and its propositions, as well as the importance of establishing a clearly defined set of postulates on which the whole edifice of economic knowledge rests. The discussion then turns to the theory of choice and the preference and utility approaches to consumer theory; neoclassical as opposed to modern consumer choice; production theory and the production set of the economy; and the theory of market demand and supply. Subsequent chapters deal with the theory of exchange and general equilibrium; welfare economics; and stability and introductory dynamics. This monograph will be of value to economists and those interested in microeconomics.