Harmful Random Utility Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteur principal: Petralia, Angelo Enrico
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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author Petralia, Angelo Enrico
author_facet Petralia, Angelo Enrico
contents In many choice settings self-punishment affects individual taste, by inducing the decision maker (DM) to disregard some of the best options. In these circumstances the DM may not maximize her true preference, but some harmful distortion of it, in which the first i alternatives are shifted, in reverse order, to the bottom. Harmful Random Utility Models (harmful RUMs), which are RUMs whose support is limited to the harmful distortions of some preference, offer a natural representation of the consequences of self-punishment on choices. Harmful RUMs are characterized by the existence of a linear order that allows to recover choice probabilities from selections over the ground set. An algorithm detects self-punishment, and elicits the DM's unobservable tastes that explain the observed choice. Necessary and sufficient conditions for a full identification of the DM's preference and randomization over its harmful distortions are singled out. In all but two cases, there is a unique justification by self-punishment of data. Finally, a degree of self-punishment, which measures the extent of the denial of pleasure adopted by the DM in her decision, is characterized.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_01317
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Harmful Random Utility Models
Petralia, Angelo Enrico
Theoretical Economics
In many choice settings self-punishment affects individual taste, by inducing the decision maker (DM) to disregard some of the best options. In these circumstances the DM may not maximize her true preference, but some harmful distortion of it, in which the first i alternatives are shifted, in reverse order, to the bottom. Harmful Random Utility Models (harmful RUMs), which are RUMs whose support is limited to the harmful distortions of some preference, offer a natural representation of the consequences of self-punishment on choices. Harmful RUMs are characterized by the existence of a linear order that allows to recover choice probabilities from selections over the ground set. An algorithm detects self-punishment, and elicits the DM's unobservable tastes that explain the observed choice. Necessary and sufficient conditions for a full identification of the DM's preference and randomization over its harmful distortions are singled out. In all but two cases, there is a unique justification by self-punishment of data. Finally, a degree of self-punishment, which measures the extent of the denial of pleasure adopted by the DM in her decision, is characterized.
title Harmful Random Utility Models
topic Theoretical Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.01317