On Dominance and Context-Dependence in Multi-Attribute Decisions

In decision-making involving multiple criteria or attributes, the attributes are often divided into core and non-core attributes. A dominance principle is formulated in terms of core attributes, and this principle is applied whenever it is applicable. If, however, the dominance principle defined in terms of core attributes is not applicable, then non-core attributes are consulted in comparing options. It is shown that the combination of these features runs into problems in the presence of a weak continuity requirement on decisions. The paper gives examples from welfare economics, and theories of individual and group decisions