Many studies document failures of expected utility’s key assumption, the independence axiom. Here, we show that independence can be decomposed into two distinct axioms - betweenness and homotheticity - and that these two axioms are necessary and sufficient for independence. Thus, independence...

We characterize optimal consumption policies in a recursive intertemporal utility framework with local substitution. We establish existence and uniqueness and a version of the Kuhn-Tucker theorem characterizing the optimal consumption plan. An explicit solution is provided for the case when the...

I provide axiomatic foundations for a model of taste uncertainty with endogenous learning through consumption. In this setting, uncertainty is over an unobservable, subjective state space. Preference over lottery–menu pairs is sufficient to identify the state space and the learning process. In...

The term 'sustainable consumption' denotes the search for consumption patterns that reduce human pressure on the environment and nature. This search involves three levels of research. First, the relationship between consumption, lifestyles and environmental sustainability has to be clarified. A...

The term ‘sustainable consumption’ denotes the search for consumption patterns that reduce human pressure on the environment and nature. This search involves three levels of research. First, the relationship between consumption, lifestyles and environmental sustainability has to be...

Evolution of consumers' preferences has been recognized by many scholars as being key to understanding technological change. However, mainstream economics cannot account for the seemingly irrational behavior of consumers based on changes in taste – consumer theory lacks exibility and accuracy...

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In this paper we assume that choice of commodities at the individual (household) level is made in the budget set and that the choice can be described by a probability density function. We prove that negativity (()0xExp<) is valid for one(x) or two choice variables (x, y) (No Giffen good).Negativity at the market level is valid by summation. The expected demand functions are homogeneous of degree zero in prices and income. We use general positive continuous functions f(x), f(x, y) defined on the bounded budget set. We transform them into probability density functions to calculate E(x) and prove negativity. The present approach use simple assumptions and is descriptive in its nature. Any choice behaviour that can be described by a continuous density function gives the above results. (,,)xyppm Why not keep descriptions as simple as possible?<p>