p.1033

Representable Choice Functions

Peter C. Fishburn

Abstract

A choice function, which maps each set of alternatives in a domain of feasible sets into a non-empty subset of itself (called the choice set), is said to be representable by a weak order if some weak order on the alternatives has maximum elements within each feasible set, all of which are in the choice set of that feasible set. A Partial Congruence Axiom ("every non-empty finite collection of feasible sets has an alternative which is in the choice set of every feasible set in the collection which contains that alternative") is shown to be necessary and sufficient for weak order representability when all choice sets are finite. A stronger form of partial congruence is proved to be necessary and sufficient for weak order representability when the number of feasible sets is countable, regardless of the cardinalities of the choice sets. The general case of arbitrary cardinalities for the domain and the choice sets is presently unsettled.