An individual is asked to assess a real-valued variable y based on certain characteristics x = (x1,..., xm), and on a database consisting of n observations of (x1,..., xm, y). A possible approach to combine past observations of x and y with the current values of x to generate an assessment of...

"Case-Based Decision Theory" is a theory of decision making under uncertainty, suggesting that people tend to choose acts that performed well in similar cases they recall. The theory has been developed from a decision-/game-/economic-theoretical point of view, as a potential alternative to...

We present and axiomatize several update rules for probabilities (and preferences) where there is no unique additive prior. In the context of non-additive probabilities we define and axiomatize Bayesian update rules; in the context of multiple (additive) priors we define maximum likelihood...

This paper offers a model of individual well-being that takes into account cognitive factors. It postulates that individuals compare payoffs to aspiration levels. The latter are determined by past experiences (adaptation), by other people's performance (interpersonal comparison), as well as by...

We present a model of inductive inference that includes, as special cases, Bayesian reasoning, case-based reasoning, and rule-based reasoning. This unified framework allows us to examine, positively or normatively, how the various modes of inductive inference can be combined and how their...

People often wonder why economists analyze models whose assumptions are known to be false, while economists feel that they learn a great deal from such exercises. We suggest that part of the knowledge generated by academic economists is case-based rather than rule-based. That is, instead of...

We suggest a model in which theories are ranked given various databases. Certain axioms on such rankings imply a numerical representation that is the sum of the log-likelihood of the theory and a fixed number for each theory, which may be interpreted as a measure of its complexity. This additive...