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Constraints and the Measurement of Freedom of Choice

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Abstract

This paper introduces considerations about constraints in the construction of measures of an agent's freedom. It starts with motivating the exercise from both the philosophical and the informational point of view. Then it presents two rankings of opportunity sets based on information about the extent of options and the constraints that a decision maker faces. The first ranking measures freedom as variety of choice; the second as non-restrictedness in choice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Scienze Finanziarie, Università di Palermo and CPNSS, London School of Economics, Tymes Court Building, Houghton Sheet, London, WC2A 2AE, UK

    Sebastiano Bavetta & Marco Del Seta

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  1. Sebastiano Bavetta
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  2. Marco Del Seta
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Correspondence to Sebastiano Bavetta.

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Bavetta, S., Del Seta, M. Constraints and the Measurement of Freedom of Choice. Theory and Decision 50, 213–238 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010384118394

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