Revealing compatible choices

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for multi-agent settings where each agent must select an action compatible with the choices of others. Agents face a technological constraint that dictates which alternative profiles are feasible, and each agent chooses her preferred option from those available, given the others’ choices. I distinguish between two cases: rival and non-rival alternatives. For a generic problem, I introduce a key axiom, Acyclicity, that characterizes the decision-making process. In the non-rivalrous case, Acyclicity can be further decomposed into two properties: WARP-CC and Joint Acyclicity. Additionally, I propose revealed preference relations to conservatively identify players’ preferences and assess compatibility based on observable, potentially limited choice data. Importantly, the construction and the results presented in this paper do not rely on access to the complete choice observations.