Choice, Preferences, and Procedures: A Rational Choice Theoretic Approach

Kotaro Suzumura

ISBN 10: 0674725123 / ISBN 13: 9780674725126

Published by Harvard University Press, 2016

About this Item

Social choice theory critically assesses and rationally designs economic mechanisms for improving human well-being. Kotaro Suzumura-one of the world's foremost thinkers in social choice theory and welfare economics-fuses abstract ideas with real-world economies to examine foundational issues of normative economics and collective decision making. Num Pages: 732 pages. BIC Classification: KCA; KCB. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 235 x 162. . . 2016. Hardcover. . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780674725126

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Choice, Preferences, and Procedures: A Rational Choice Theoretic Approach
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674725123
• ISBN 13: 9780674725126
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Kotaro Suzumura is one of the world’s foremost thinkers in social choice theory and welfare economics. Bringing together essays that have become classics in the field, Choice, Preferences, and Procedures examines foundational issues of normative economics and collective decision making.

Social choice theory seeks to critically assess and rationally design economic mechanisms for improving human life. An important part of Suzumura’s contribution over the past forty years has entailed fusion of abstract microeconomic ideas with an understanding of real-world economies in a coherent analysis. This volume of selected essays reveals the evolution of Suzumura’s thinking over his career. Groundbreaking papers explore the nature of individual and social choice and the idea of assigning value to freedom of choice, different forms of rationality, and concepts of individual rights, equity, and fairness.

Suzumura elucidates his innovative approach for recognizing interpersonal comparisons in the vein of Adam Smith’s notion of sympathy and expounds the effect of paying due attention to nonconsequential features, such as the opportunity to choose and the procedure for decision making, along with the standard consequential features. Analyzing the role of economic competition, Suzumura points out how restricting competition may, in some circumstances, improve social welfare. This is not to recommend government regulation rather than market competition but to emphasize the importance of procedural features in a competitive context. He concludes with illuminating essays on the history of economic thought, focusing on the ideas of Vilfredo Pareto, Arthur Pigou, John Hicks, and Paul Samuelson.

About the Author

Kotaro Suzumura is Professor Emeritus and Honorary Fellow, Waseda University, and Member of the Japan Academy.