Numerical representations of imperfectly ordered preferences (a unified geometric exposition)
Abstract
This paper uses "generalized numerical representations" to extend some of the result of utility theory regarding imperfectly ordered preferences in general and semiordered preferences in particular. It offers a unified geometric approach, which helps visualize how the increasingly stringent conditions of suborders, interval orders, semiorders, and weak orders give rise to increasingly intuitive representations. The differences between the proposed framework and the more traditional utility representations are especially significant in the context of uncountable sets