Abstract

This paper introduces an approach to the study of rational choice behavior which is based on the concept of subjective indifference, as well as its relationships with both the classical preference-based approach and the choice behavior approach. With regard to the first relationship (which has already been studied in Alcantud, 2001, as a purely topological and order-theoretical problem) new considerations are now put forward in the decision theory context. In short, if a decisionmaker has some indifference classes defined on a choice set, then we know the conditions under which his/her tastes can be modeled by a continuous preference yielding these indifference classes. The second problem is posed and tackled here and gives place to a theory of revealed indifference, where both the decisive, and indecisive cases will be considered.

Author Keywords: subjective indifference; preference; revealed indifference; choice structure

^f1 The author is indebted to an anonymous referee for the careful reading of the original manuscript. Financial support form DGICYT Project PB98-551, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura (Spain), is gratefully acknowledged.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to J. C. R. Alcantud, Falcultad de Economia y Empresa, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, Universidad de Salamanca, E37008 Salamanca, Spain. E-mail: jcr@usal.es. Webpage: http://web.usal.es/jcr.