Choice deferral, indecisiveness and preference for flexibility

Pejsachowicz, Leonardo and Toussaert, Séverine (2017) Choice deferral, indecisiveness and preference for flexibility. Journal of Economic Theory, 170. pp. 417-425. ISSN 0022-0531

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Abstract

In a standard model of menu choice, we examine the behavior of an agent who applies the following Cautious Deferral rule: “Whenever in doubt, don't commit; just leave options open.” Our primitive is a complete preference relation ≽ that represents the agent's choice behavior. The agent's indecisiveness is captured by means of a possibly incomplete (but otherwise rational) preference relation ≽ˆ. We ask when ≽ can be viewed as a Cautious Deferral completion of some incomplete ≽ˆ. Under the independence and continuity assumptions commonly used in the menu choice literature, we find that even the smallest amount of indecisiveness is enough to force ≽, through the above deferral rule, to exhibit preference for flexibility on its entire domain. Thus we highlight a fundamental tension between non-monotonic preferences, such as preferences for self-control, and tendency to defer choice due to indecisiveness.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-econo...
Additional Information:	© 2017 Elsevier
Divisions:	Social Policy
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Date Deposited:	18 Jul 2017 10:49
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2024 00:11
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/83566

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