Abstract
Any satisfactory method of making a social choice should be in some measure representative of the individual criteria which enter into it, should use the range of possible actions, and should observe consistency conditions among the choices made for different data sets. Arrow’s Theorem, or the Impossibility Theorem, states that there is no social choice mechanism which satisfies such reasonable conditions and which will be applicable to any arbitrary set of individual criteria. This article sets out the proof of the theorem.
This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, 2008. Edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume
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Arrow, K.J. (2008). Arrow’s Theorem. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_137-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_137-2
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95121-5
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Chapter history
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Latest
Arrow’s Theorem- Published:
- 06 March 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_137-2
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Original
Arrow’s Theorem- Published:
- 03 November 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_137-1