<p>How can we understand rational choice when decision-makers face genuine non-comparabilities and incommensurabilities? This paper examines two fundamental but distinct coherence requirements for rationalizing relations: quasi-transitivity (which ensures that the betterness relation is transitive) and Suzumura consistency (which prevents exploitable cycles in goodness relations). While each condition individually relaxes transitivity in plausible ways, their combination has remained unexplored despite addressing complementary aspects of coherent behavior; quasi-transitivity ensures path-independent decision-making, while Suzumura consistency rules out money pumps. We provide a novel analysis of when choice patterns can be rationalized by goodness relations satisfying both properties simultaneously. Our argument offers a plausible foundation for decision-making, when transitivity is dropped under circumstances where incommensurability or non-comparability may be present.</p>

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Quasi-transitive and Suzumura consistent rationalizing relations

  • Walter Bossert,
  • Susumu Cato,
  • Kohei Kamaga

摘要

How can we understand rational choice when decision-makers face genuine non-comparabilities and incommensurabilities? This paper examines two fundamental but distinct coherence requirements for rationalizing relations: quasi-transitivity (which ensures that the betterness relation is transitive) and Suzumura consistency (which prevents exploitable cycles in goodness relations). While each condition individually relaxes transitivity in plausible ways, their combination has remained unexplored despite addressing complementary aspects of coherent behavior; quasi-transitivity ensures path-independent decision-making, while Suzumura consistency rules out money pumps. We provide a novel analysis of when choice patterns can be rationalized by goodness relations satisfying both properties simultaneously. Our argument offers a plausible foundation for decision-making, when transitivity is dropped under circumstances where incommensurability or non-comparability may be present.