On the existence of altruistic value and utility functions

On the existence of altruistic value and utility functions

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Article ID: iaor20163728
Volume: 81
Issue: 3
Start Page Number: 371
End Page Number: 391
Publication Date: Sep 2016
Journal: Theory and Decision
Authors:
Keywords: behaviour, decision theory, economics, social
Abstract:

Altruism is a popular economic explanation for a wide range of pro‐social decisions and actions. It has been applied frequently in several different streams of literature, and is a descriptively compelling model of behavior. This paper provides a theoretical framework for the existence of ordinal and cardinal altruistic value functions, as well as altruistic utility functions, based on an altruistic preference relation. Representation theorems are developed to specify relatively weak conditions under which altruistic value and utility functions can be shown to exist. In addition, conditions that lead to additive forms of these functions are provided.

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