Issue: 2014/Vol.24/No.4, Pages 63-74
ARE WE DONE WITH PREFERENCE RANKINGS? IF WE ARE, THEN WHAT?
Hannu Nurmi
Cite as: H. Nurmi. Are we done with preference rankings? If we are, then what?. Operations Research and Decisions 2014: 24(4), 63-74. DOI 10.5277/ord140405
Abstract
Intransitive, incomplete and discontinuous preferences are not always irrational but may be based on quite reasonable considerations. Hence, we pursue the possibility of building a theory of social choice on an alternative foundation, viz. on individual preference tournaments. Tournaments have been studied for a long time independently of rankings and a number of results are therefore just waiting to be applied in social choice. Our focus is on Slater’s rule. A new interpretation of the rule is provided.
Keywords: preferences, Slater’s rule, social choice
Received: 16 September 2014 Accepted: 23 October 2014