Afriat's Theorem and Some Extensions to Choice under Uncertainty

The first part of the paper reviews the methodology developed by Sydney Afriat for determining whether a finite set of price and quantity data are consistent with utility maximizing behavior by a consumer. Some extensions of his basic model to models of consumer behavior where the structure of preferences is restricted in some way are also explained. Examples of special structures are homotheticity, separability and quasilinearity of the utility function. The second half of the paper is devoted to developing Afriat type consistency tests for expected and nonexpected utility maximizing behavior.