Robert Sugden
Biographic Data
| ID | 3591552 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Robert Sugden |
| GIVEN NAMES | Robert |
| FAMILY NAME | Sugden |
| SIGNATURE | SUGDEN R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of East Anglia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3401-3139 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 124 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1098 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 122 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1973 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 14 |
Private acts, social acts and entrepreneurship: Can Millian liberalism justify regulation against bad nudges
Retail firms routinely use non-deceptive ‘nudges’ (i.e., psychological cues) to induce consumers to buy their products. Le Grand and New ( Government Paternalism , 2015) and Oliver ( A Political Economy of Behavioural Public Policy , 2023) argue in favour of regulations (‘budges’ in Oliver’s terminology) that prohibit such nudges when regulators judge the relevant product to be harmful to consumers. These writers claim that such regulations are c…
Disengaging Liberalism from Rationality
From Adam Smith onward, a liberal tradition of economics has described the market system as both wealth creating and liberty enhancing. Modern economics has formalized this description in "neoclassical" models of markets populated by rational agents. However, there is growing evidence that individuals' decisions often reveal inconsistent preferences. I review three influential books that present this evidence as a challenge to liberal justificati…
Hayek, Buchanan and the justification of the market
This paper discusses the work of two twentieth‐century liberal economists, Friedrich Hayek and James Buchanan, who have made lasting contributions to our understanding of the role of the market in a free society. I argue that they offer significantly different but complementary visions of the value of the market as a system of individual freedom. Hayek's vision is of the price system as a marvel of spontaneous order which solves a fundamental eco…
Daniel Kahneman and the concept of the true self
Kahneman and Tversky’s ‘Prospect Theory’ paper famously demolishes expected utility theory as a predictive device. However, it presents deviations from that theory as ‘normatively unacceptable’ and argues that decision-makers would normally correct them when possible. In a later paper, Kahneman rejects a similar argument (the ‘discovered preference’ hypothesis) advanced by Plott. Later still, Kahneman endorses Sunstein and Thaler’s ‘libertarian p…
Abstract rationality: The ‘logical’ structure of attitudes
We present an abstract model of rationality that focuses on structural properties of attitudes. Rationality requires coherence between your attitudes, such as your beliefs, values and intentions. We define three ‘logical’ conditions on attitudes: consistency, completeness and closedness. They parallel the familiar logical conditions on beliefs, but contrast with standard rationality conditions such as preference transitivity. We establish a forma…
Voluntariness and the bounds of cost–benefit analysis
Behavioural economists often claim that their policy recommendations are justified by cost–benefit analysis (CBA), but without adequate explanation of the methodology they have in mind. I sketch the outlines of a CBA methodology that is compatible with the findings of behavioural economics and is in accord with my account in Sugden (2018) of a well-functioning market as a network of opportunities for mutually beneficial transactions. The key idea…
Transactional fairness in consumer markets
There is growing public concern about the ‘unfairness’ of many pricing practices that have become common in consumer, particularly digital, markets. Industrial and behavioural economists have developed theories that explain the conditions under which these practices are profitable for firms, and their implications for consumer welfare. We identify a mismatch between the welfare economic principles used in this theoretical work and the normative p…
Debiasing or regularisation? Two interpretations of the concept of ‘true preference’ in behavioural economics
I reconsider Bleichrodt, Pinto Prades and Wakker’s (BPW) 2001 paper about eliciting utility measures from stated preference surveys. That paper pioneers a method that is now widely used in behavioural economics to correct individuals’ ‘biases’ and to recover their ‘true preferences’. However, BPW propose this method as way of dealing with inconsistent responses to stated preference surveys, in contrast to more recent applications which aim to hel…
Taking the New Year's Resolution Test seriously: Eliciting individuals’ judgements about self-control and spontaneity
Self-control failure occurs when an individual experiences a conflict between immediate desires and longer-term goals, recognises psychological forces that hinder goal-directed action, tries to resist them but fails in the attempt. Behavioural economists often invoke assumptions about self-control failure to justify proposals for policy interventions. These arguments require workable methods for eliciting individuals’ goals and for verifying occu…
Michael Jones-Lee and the value of statistical life, health and safety
This is an appreciation of the life and work of Michael Jones-Lee. It describes his pioneering role in establishing and developing the theory and practice of the elicitation of monetary values for changes in risks to life, health and safety, using stated preference methods
Voluntary Interaction and the Principle of Mutual Benefit
Most social preference theories are based on observations of nonvoluntary interactions. Nonselfish behavior may take fundamentally different forms in voluntary interactions, such as market transactions. We investigate the “Principle of Mutual Benefit”—an injunctive norm requiring individuals who enter interactions voluntarily to conform to common expectations about behavior within them. This norm induces patterns of behavior inconsistent with exi…
Hume’s theory of justice and Vanderschraaf’s vulnerablity objection
In ‘Strategic Justice’, Vanderschraaf argues that many existing theories of justice as mutual advantage, including Hume’s, are not ‘proper accounts of justice’ because they deny the benefits of justice to people who are unable to contribute to the cooperative surplus. Vanderschraaf presents a model in which a practice of giving aid to vulnerable people can be a convention, and argues that this exemplifies justice as mutual advantage. I argue that…
How Hayekian is Sunstein's behavioral economics
I comment on Sunstein's paper proposing ‘Hayekian behavioural economics’. In essence, Sunstein is merely renaming a familiar approach to normative economics, initiated in Sunstein and Thaler's seminal 2003 paper. I argue that this approach cannot fairly be described as in the spirit of Hayek's work. Sunstein's approach is based on a ‘constructivist’ conception of rationality that Hayek consistently criticized. Although both Hayek and Sunstein add…
Savage’s response to Allais as Broomean reasoning
A Broomean Model of Rationality and Reasoning
John Broome has developed an account of rationality and reasoning which gives philosophical foundations for choice theory and the psychology of rational agents. We formalize his account into a model that differs from ordinary choice-theoretic models through focusing on psychology and the reasoning process. Within that model, we ask Broome’s central question of whether reasoning can make us more rational: whether it allows us to acquire transitive…
Peter Vanderschraaf, Strategic Justice: Convention and Problems of Balancing Divergent Interests
For twenty years, Peter Vanderschraaf has been writing important papers about conventions. His new book, Strategic Justice, synthesises this body of work and displays his ability to write both as a scholarly philosopher and as a rigorous game theorist. As a preface to this review, I must declare an interest. I am the author of a book, The Economics of Rights, Cooperation and Welfare (1986), which deals with many of the same topics as Strategic Ju…
The Community of Advantage
Normative analysis in economics has usually aimed at satisfying individuals’ preferences. Its conclusions have supported a long-standing liberal tradition of economics that values economic freedom and views markets favourably. However, behavioural research shows that individuals’ preferences, as revealed in choices, are often unstable, and vary according to contextual factors that seem irrelevant for welfare. The Community of Advantage proposes a…
The Invisible Hand: A Behavioural Economist's Defence of the Market
Chapter 6 presents a new formulation of Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ argument. The underlying idea is that markets are valuable because they provide opportunities for voluntary transactions (rather than because they satisfy preferences). I propose a ‘Strong Interactive Opportunity Criterion’ which requires that all opportunities for feasible and non-dominated transactions within groups of individuals are made available to those individuals. I de…
Attention and novelty: An experimental investigation of order effects in multiple valuation tasks
Preference purification and the inner rational agent: A critique of the conventional wisdom of behavioural welfare economics
Neoclassical economics assumes that individuals have stable and context-independent preferences, and uses preference satisfaction as a normative criterion. By calling this assumption into question, behavioural findings cause fundamental problems for normative economics. A common response to these problems is to treat deviations from conventional rational choice theory as mistakes, and to try to reconstruct the preferences that individuals would h…
Ontology, Methodological Individualism, and the Foundations of the Social Sciences
This is a review essay based on a critical assessment of The Ant Trap: Rebuilding the Foundations of the Social Sciences by Brian Epstein. Epstein argues that models in the social sciences are inadequate because they are based on a false ontology of methodological individualism, and proposes a new model of social ontology. I examine this model and point to flaws in it. More generally, I argue against Epstein's methodological approach, which treat…
On David Gauthier’s Theories of Coordination and Cooperation
In 1975, Gauthier discussed Schelling’s pure coordination games and Hodgson’s Hi-Lo game . While developing an original analysis of how rational players coordinate on ‘focal points,’ Gauthier argued, contrary to Schelling and Hodgson, that successful coordination in these games does not depend on deviations from conventional principles of individually rational choice. I argue that Gauthier’s analysis of constrained maximization in Morals by Agree…
Looking for a Psychology for the Inner Rational Agent
Research in psychology and behavioural economics shows that individuals’ choices often depend on ‘irrelevant’ contextual factors. This presents problems for normative economics, which has traditionally used preference-satisfaction as its criterion. A common response is to claim that individuals have context-independent latent preferences which are ‘distorted’ by psychological factors, and that latent preferences should be respected. This response…
Team Reasoning and Intentional Cooperation for Mutual Benefit
This paper proposes a concept of intentional cooperation for mutual benefit. This concept uses a form of team reasoning in which team members aim to achieve common interests, rather than maximising a common utility function, and in which team reasoners can coordinate their behaviour by following pre-existing practices. I argue that a market transaction can express intentions for mutually beneficial cooperation even if, extensionally, participatio…
Not all anchors are created equal
We investigate the effects of a range of different types of anchor on WTP and WTA valuations of familiar consumer products, elicited through individuals’ buying or selling decisions at given prices. We find anchoring effects only when the anchor value is framed as a plausible price for the good for which the individual is a potential buyer or seller. Anchoring effects are stronger for WTA than for WTP. We conclude that anchoring effects can affec…
Regret Theory: An Alternative Theory of Rational Choice Under Uncertainty
Journal Article Regret Theory: An Alternative Theory of Rational Choice Under Uncertainty Get access Graham Loomes, Graham Loomes University of Newcastle Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 92, Issue 368, 1 December 1982, Pages 805–824, https://doi.org/10.230…
The Invisible Hand: A Behavioural Economist's Defence of the Market
Chapter 6 presents a new formulation of Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ argument. The underlying idea is that markets are valuable because they provide opportunities for voluntary transactions (rather than because they satisfy preferences). I propose a ‘Strong Interactive Opportunity Criterion’ which requires that all opportunities for feasible and non-dominated transactions within groups of individuals are made available to those individuals. I de…
Reciprocity: The Supply of Public Goods Through Voluntary Contributions
In modern economies, there are two main ways of financing the production of goods and services. One way is by charging consumers: if you consume, you must pay. The other way is by raising taxes: whether you consume or not, you must pay. But there is also a third way, characteristic of what I shall call the voluntary sector, which is to finance production out of voluntary contributions: whether you consume or not, you choose for yourself whether y…
The Economics of Rights, Co-operation and Welfare
This is a new edition - with a substantial new introduction - of a book which has had a significant impact on economics, philosophy and political science. Robert Sugden shows how conventions of proper
Rational Choice: A Survey of Contributions from Economics and Philosophy
Journal Article Rational Choice: A Survey of Contributions from Economics and Philosophy Get access Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 101, Issue 407, 1 July 1991, Pages 751–785, https://doi.org/10.2307/2233854 Published: 01 July 1991
Spontaneous Order
In a fishing village on the Yorkshire coast, there used to be an unwritten rule about the gathering of driftwood after a storm. Whoever was first onto a stretch of the shore after high tide was allowed to take whatever he wished without interference from later arrivals and to gather it into piles above the high-tide line. Provided he placed two stones on the top of each pile, the wood was regarded as his property for him to carry away when he cho…
A Theory of Focal Points
Journal Article A Theory of Focal Points Get access Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 105, Issue 430, 1 May 1995, Pages 533–550, https://doi.org/10.2307/2235016 Published: 01 May 1995
On the Economics of Philanthropy
Journal Article On the Economics of Philanthropy Get access Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 92, Issue 366, 1 June 1982, Pages 341–350, https://doi.org/10.2307/2232444 Published: 01 June 1982
The Road not Taken: How Psychology was Removed from Economics, and How it Might be Brought Back
This article explores parallels between the debate prompted by Pareto's reformulation of choice theory at the beginning of the twentieth century and current controversies about the status of behavioural economics. Before Pareto's reformulation, neoclassical economics was based on theoretical and experimental psychology, as behavioural economics now is. Current 'discovered preference' defences of rational-choice theory echo arguments made by Paret…
Testing for Regret and Disappointment in Choice Under Uncertainty
Much of the experimental evidence concerning violations of von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility theory has been collected fr om experiments designed with conventional theory in mind and does not provide direct tests of alternative models such as regret theory and disappointment theory. This paper reports and discusses recent evidence produced by an exp erimentspe cifically designed to test for the impacts of regret and disappointment, and to …
Commodities and Capabilities
Journal Article Commodities and Capabilities Get access Commodities and Capabilities. By AMARTYA SEN. (Amsterdam ) New York: North-Holland, 1985. Pp. 130. US$ 35.25, Dfl. 95.00 hardback.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 96, Issue 383, 1 September 1986, Pages 820–822, https://doi.org/10.2307/2232999 Published: 01 September 19…
Why incoherent preferences do not justify paternalism
Fraternity: Why the Market Need Not Be a Morally Free Zone
This paper reappraises the idea, traceable to Adam Smith, of a fundamental distinction between market transactions and genuinely social relationships. On Smith's account, each party to a market transaction pursues his own interests, subject only to the law of contract. Using the work of Smith's contemporary Antonio Genovesi as our starting point, we reconstruct an alternative understanding of market interactions as instances of a wider class of r…
Explaining Focal Points: Cognitive Hierarchy Theory versus Team Reasoning
This article reports experimental tests of two alternative explanations of how players use focal points to select equilibria in one-shot coordination games. Cognitive hierarchy theory explains coordination as the result of common beliefs about players' pre-reflective inclinations towards the relevant strategies; the theory of team reasoning explains it as the result of the players' using a non-standard form of reasoning. We report two experiments…
Does Part–whole Bias Exist? An Experimental Investigation
The existence of part–whole bias has been hotly disputed in the recent contingent valuation literature. This paper reports on an experiment into part–whole bias. Employing vouchers for parts of a restaurant meal and using an incentive compatible procedure, valuations of the parts and of the whole were elicited. The sum of the valuations of the parts consistently exceeded that of the whole, providing evidence of the existence of part–whole bias in…
Preference Reversal: Information-Processing Effect or Rational Non-Transitive Choice
Journal Article Preference Reversal: Information-Processing Effect or Rational Non-Transitive Choice? Get access Graham Loomes, Graham Loomes University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Chris Starmer, Chris Starmer University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this aut…
What We Desire, What We Have Reason to Desire, Whatever We Might Desire: Mill and Sen on the Value of Opportunity
I compare Mill's and Sen's accounts of the value of opportunity, focusing on a tension between two ideas they both uphold: that individual freedom is an important component of well-being, and that, because desires can be adaptive, actual desire is not always a good indicator of what will give well-being. The two writers' responses to this tension reflect different understandings of the relationship between freedom and desire. Sen links an individ…
Do Anomalies Disappear in Repeated Markets
There is some evidence that, as individuals participate in repeated markets, "anomalies" tend to disappear. One interpretation is that individuals — particularly marginal traders — are learning to act on underlying preferences which satisfy standard assumptions. An alternative interpretation, the "shaping" hypothesis, is that individuals" preferences are adjusting in response to cues given by market prices. The paper reports an experiment designe…
Ontology, Methodological Individualism, and the Foundations of the Social Sciences
This is a review essay based on a critical assessment of The Ant Trap: Rebuilding the Foundations of the Social Sciences by Brian Epstein. Epstein argues that models in the social sciences are inadequate because they are based on a false ontology of methodological individualism, and proposes a new model of social ontology. I examine this model and point to flaws in it. More generally, I argue against Epstein's methodological approach, which treat…
Team Reasoning and Intentional Cooperation for Mutual Benefit
This paper proposes a concept of intentional cooperation for mutual benefit. This concept uses a form of team reasoning in which team members aim to achieve common interests, rather than maximising a common utility function, and in which team reasoners can coordinate their behaviour by following pre-existing practices. I argue that a market transaction can express intentions for mutually beneficial cooperation even if, extensionally, participatio…
Dynamic Choice and the Common Ratio Effect: An Experimental Investigation
The common ratio effect is a well‐attested violation of expected utility theory. This paper uses four principles of dynamic choice to characterise alternative theoretical strategies for explaining the effect. It reports an experiment which tests these principles and, by implication, several well‐known accounts of the common ratio effect. Unlike previous work, the experimental design uses real financial incentives without presupposing any dynamic …
Free Association and the Theory of Proportional Representation
Several of the earliest advocates of proportional representation upheld the "principle of free association": that electors should be free to choose the constituencies to which they belong. This article analyzes this principle in game-theoretic terms and investigates how far the free association "game" can be simulated through proportional representation. It is assumed that each voter's prime concern is that his most-preferred candidate should be …
Condorcet: Foundations of Social Choice and Political Theory
Journal Article Condorcet: Foundations of Social Choice and Political Theory. Get access Condorcet: Foundations of Social Choice and Political Theory, Translated and Edited by Mclean (Iain) and Hewitt (Fiona). (Aldershot and Brookfield, VT: Edward Elgar, 1994. Pp. ix + 370. £59.95 hardback. ISBN 1 85898 068 2.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Econom…
Nonlinear Preference and Utility Theory
Journal Article Nonlinear Preference and Utility Theory Get access Nonlinear Preference and Utility Theory. By C. FISHBURN PETER. (Brighton: Wheatsheaf, 1988. Pp. ix + 259. £29.95 hardback. ISBN 0 7450 0546 2.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 99, Issue 398, 1 December 1989, Pages 1191–1192, https://doi.org/10.2307/2234100 Pu…
Arrow's Theorem: The Paradox of Social Choice
Journal Article Arrow’s Theorem: The Paradox of Social Choice Get access Arrow’s Theorem: The Paradox of Social Choice. By Alfred F. Mackay. (London: Yale University Press, 1980. Pp. i x+ 143. £9.15.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle Upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 91, Issue 361, 1 March 1981, Pages 262–264, https://doi.org/10.2307/2231726 Published…
The Location Choices of Students in Lodgings and Flats
Choices Involving Risk: A Comment
Journal Article Choices Involving Risk: A Comment Get access M. W. Jones-Lee, M. W. Jones-Lee University of Newcastle Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar R. Sugden R. Sugden University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 87, Issue 347, 1 September 1977, Pages 565–568, https://doi.org/10.2307/2231562 Published: 01 September 1977 Article h…
A Contractual Reformulation of Certain Aspects of Welfare Economics
Within the discipline of welfare economics, one tradition-the BergsonSamuelson tradition-has been dominant for over a quarter of a century. The most basic concept in this tradition is the social welfare ordering or social welfare function. This represents the judgments of some private individual, public official or ethical observer concerning what is better or worse for society. Certain restrictions are placed on the form such an ordering may tak…
Welfare, Justice, and Freedom
Journal Article Welfare, Justice, and Freedom Get access Welfare, Justice, and Freedom. By Scott Gordon. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1980. Pp. viii + 234. $21.90.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden The University of Newcastle-upon- Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 91, Issue 363, 1 September 1981, Pages 791–792, https://doi.org/10.2307/2232860 Published: 01 September 198…
Arrow's Theorem: The Paradox of Social Choice
Journal Article Arrow’s Theorem: The Paradox of Social Choice Get access Arrow’s Theorem: The Paradox of Social Choice. By Alfred F. Mackay. (London: Yale University Press, 1980. Pp. i x+ 143. £9.15.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle Upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 91, Issue 361, 1 March 1981, Pages 262–264, https://doi.org/10.2307/2231726 Published…
The Political Economy of Public Choice
On the Economics of Philanthropy
Journal Article On the Economics of Philanthropy Get access Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 92, Issue 366, 1 June 1982, Pages 341–350, https://doi.org/10.2307/2232444 Published: 01 June 1982
Regret Theory: An Alternative Theory of Rational Choice Under Uncertainty
Journal Article Regret Theory: An Alternative Theory of Rational Choice Under Uncertainty Get access Graham Loomes, Graham Loomes University of Newcastle Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 92, Issue 368, 1 December 1982, Pages 805–824, https://doi.org/10.230…
Hard Luck Stories: The Problem of the Uninsured in a Laissez-Faire Society
Liberal economists argue that in general the market system promotes social welfare; but they usually accept that governments should relieve extreme poverty, even where this arises out of individuals' failure to insure themselves. A particularly common argument is that income maintenance is justified because more fortunate people feel compassion or obligation towards the poor. But this position is inconsistent. Given the assumptions necessary to s…
Societies and Social Decision Functions. A Model with Focus on the Information Problem
Journal Article Societies and Social Decision Functions. A Model with Focus on the Information Problem Get access Societies and Social Decision Functions. A Model with Focus on the Information Problem. By A. Camacho. (Dordrecht & Boston: D. Reidel, 1982. Pp. xv + 144. Dfl. 80.00, $34.50.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Vol…
On the Economics of Philanthropy: Reply
Journal Article On the Economics of Philanthropy: Reply Get access Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 93, Issue 371, 1 September 1983, Page 639, https://doi.org/10.2307/2232401 Published: 01 September 1983
Regret Theory and Information: A Reply
Journal Article Regret Theory and Information: A Reply Get access Graham Loomes, Graham Loomes University of Newcastle upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 94, Issue 375, 1 September 1984, Pages 649–650, https://doi.org/10.2307/2232710 Publ…
Measuring Economic Welfare: New Methods
Journal Article Measuring Economic Welfare: New Methods Get access Measuring Economic Welfare: New Methods. By GEORGE W. MCKENZIE. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Pp. xii+187. £17.50.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of Newcastle upon Tyne Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 94, Issue 374, 1 June 1984, Pages 407–409, https://doi.org/10.2307/2232366 Published: 0…
Reciprocity: The Supply of Public Goods Through Voluntary Contributions
In modern economies, there are two main ways of financing the production of goods and services. One way is by charging consumers: if you consume, you must pay. The other way is by raising taxes: whether you consume or not, you must pay. But there is also a third way, characteristic of what I shall call the voluntary sector, which is to finance production out of voluntary contributions: whether you consume or not, you choose for yourself whether y…
Free Association and the Theory of Proportional Representation
Several of the earliest advocates of proportional representation upheld the "principle of free association": that electors should be free to choose the constituencies to which they belong. This article analyzes this principle in game-theoretic terms and investigates how far the free association "game" can be simulated through proportional representation. It is assumed that each voter's prime concern is that his most-preferred candidate should be …
Liberty, Preference, and Choice
Ever since its first publication in 1970, Amartya Sen's paper “The Impossibility of a Paretian Liberal” (reprinted in Sen, 1982) has served as the starting point for almost all discussions of liberty in social choice theory. However, a number of people, myself included, have argued that Sen's theorem rests on a misleading characterization of liberty (Nozick, 1974, pp. 164–166; Bernholz, 1974; Sugden, 1978, 1981, pp. 193–198; Garden-fors, 1981; Le…
Why be Consistent? A Critical Analysis of Consistency Requirements in Choice Theory
Consider the following very general and entirely conventional description of a choice problem. There is a set X of conceivable end states; these are finite in number and mutually exclusive. Some non-empty subset of X, which I shall denote by S, is the feasible set; it is from this set that a choice must be made. A plan or procedure for choosing can be represented by a choicefunction C( * ) that assigns a chosen set C(S) to every logically possibl…
Welfare Economics
The Economics of Conformism
Disappointment and Dynamic Consistency in Choice under Uncertainty
The central proposition of disappointment theory is that an individual forms expectations about uncertain prospects, and that if the actual consequence turns out to be worse than (or better than) that expectation, the individual experiences a sensation of disappointment (or elation) generating a decrement (or increment) of utility which modifies the basic utility derived from the consequence. By incorporating a simple disappointment-elation funct…
Neoclassical Political Economy: The Analysis of Rent-Seeking and DUP Activities
Journal Article Neoclassical Political Economy: The Analysis of Rent-Seeking and DUP Activities Get access Neoclassical Political Economy: The Analysis of Rent-Seeking and DUP Activities. Edited by DAVID C. COLANDER. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger, 1984. Pp. xvi + 264. £32.25 hardback.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume …
Commodities and Capabilities
Journal Article Commodities and Capabilities Get access Commodities and Capabilities. By AMARTYA SEN. (Amsterdam ) New York: North-Holland, 1985. Pp. 130. US$ 35.25, Dfl. 95.00 hardback.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 96, Issue 383, 1 September 1986, Pages 820–822, https://doi.org/10.2307/2232999 Published: 01 September 19…
Testing for Regret and Disappointment in Choice Under Uncertainty
Much of the experimental evidence concerning violations of von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility theory has been collected fr om experiments designed with conventional theory in mind and does not provide direct tests of alternative models such as regret theory and disappointment theory. This paper reports and discusses recent evidence produced by an exp erimentspe cifically designed to test for the impacts of regret and disappointment, and to …
Hard Choices: Decision Making Under Unresolved Conflict
Journal Article Hard Choices: Decision Making Under Unresolved Conflict Get access Hard Choices: Decision Making under Unresolved Conflict. By Isaac Levi. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Pp. xii + 250. à à à à £25.00 hardback.) Robert Sugden Robert Sugden University of East Anglia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 97, Issue 388, 1 December 1987, Pages 1014–1016, htt…
Not Only the Poor: The Middle Classes and the Welfare State
Economics (90 works) · Sociology (61 works) · Political science (54 works) · Computer Science (47 works) · Law (45 works) · Philosophy (45 works) · Epistemology (41 works) · Economic Theory and Institutions (38 works) · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics (37 works) · Mathematical economics (36 works)