Obvious Representations

Abstract

Under standard assumptions, the respect of obvious dominance characterizes the existence of what we call obvious representations. We show that various conditions imposed directly on the function α characteristic of these representations pin down general monotonic, invariant bi-separable, general Choquet, convex Choquet, neo-additive Choquet, and subjective expected utility preferences. Among other insights, the alternative axiomatizations which we thus provide facilitate comparisons between models as well as the identification of their parameters. Co-minimal and co-maximal acts—a natural generalization of co-monotonic acts, the relevance of which is further confirmed by our results—play a significant role in our analysis. Our results further testify of the fundamental importance of obvious dominance, and they offer a proof of concept that obvious representations constitute a fruitful format for axiomatic investigations.