Preseparable Extensions of Multidimensional Preferences

摘要

Throughout much of the literature in economics and political science, the notion of separability provides a mechanism for characterizing interdependence within individual preferences over multiple dimensions. In this paper, we show how preseparable extensions can be used to construct certain classes of separable and non-separable preferences. We prove several associated combinatorial results, and we note a correspondence between separable preference orders, Boolean term orders, and comparative probability relations. We also mention several open questions pertaining to preseparable extensions and separable preferences.