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

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 critically assesses and rationally designs economic mechanisms for improving human well-being. Suzumura's contribution over the past forty years has entailed fusion of abstract ideas with an understanding of real-world economies in a coherent analysis. In groundbreaking essays he explores the nature of individual and social choice and the idea of freedom of choice, different forms of rationality of choice, and concepts of individual rights, equity, and fairness. Suzumura elucidates an innovative approach for interpersonal comparisons in the vein of Adam Smith's notion of sympathy and expounds the effect of accommodating nonconsequential features, such as the opportunity to choose and the procedure for decision making, along with consequential features. He also shows how restricting competition may 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. Concluding essays focus on the ideas of Vilfredo Pareto, Arthur Pigou, John Hicks, and Paul Samuelson.