Ramses Abul Naga
IBD Amphi
AMU - AMSE
5-9 boulevard Maurice Bourdet
13001 Marseille
Sarah Flèche : sarah.fleche[at]univ-amu.fr
Agnès Tomini : agnes.tomini[at]univ-amu.fr
A decision maker with incomplete preferences faces a choice problem over a finite choice set. Learning occurs when the decision maker is able to order additional pairs of elements from the choice set. When learning satisfies a set of behavioural axioms, every new preference relation preserves the previous relation, but extends it (in the order-theoretic sense) until preferences settle on one - among finitely many- complete orderings in a finite number of learning periods. Thus, we associate with the set of learning processes (the different ways in which learning occurs) the set of order-extensions of the preference relation of an indecisive decision maker. Heterogeneity in a cross-section of decision makers arises due to the different ways in which individuals learn, and the different stages of learning a person is at within a given learning process. Several applications of the framework are then discussed, including the measurement of indecisiveness, how learning occurs from social interactions, the utility representation of learning processes, and the implications of learning for axioms of revealed preference.