An Axiomatic Approach to “Preference for Freedom of Choice”
The paper axiomatically characterizes a notion of “freedom of choice.“ The central condition considered in this paper is the following. In every non-empty opportunity set there exists at least one alternative such that its exclusion would reduce an agent 's freedom. It turns out that this condition induces a formal structure which is familiar from the theory of revealed preference. Under a somewhat different interpretation, some well-known rationality conditions are used to characterize models of freedom. Furthermore, a link is established between the notion of “preference for freedom” and Kreps' concept of “preference for flexibility.”Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Number: D71.