Choice, Preferences, and Procedures

Choice, Preferences, and Procedures
Author: Kotaro Suzumura
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 806
Release: 2016-06-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0674725123

Kotaro Suzumura is one of the world’s foremost thinkers in social choice theory and welfare economics. Bringing together essays that have become classics in the field, Choice, Preferences, and Procedures examines foundational issues of normative economics and collective decision making. Social choice theory seeks to critically assess and rationally design economic mechanisms for improving human life. An important part of Suzumura’s contribution over the past forty years has entailed fusion of abstract microeconomic ideas with an understanding of real-world economies in a coherent analysis. This volume of selected essays reveals the evolution of Suzumura’s thinking over his career. Groundbreaking papers explore the nature of individual and social choice and the idea of assigning value to freedom of choice, different forms of rationality, and concepts of individual rights, equity, and fairness. Suzumura elucidates his innovative approach for recognizing interpersonal comparisons in the vein of Adam Smith’s notion of sympathy and expounds the effect of paying due attention to nonconsequential features, such as the opportunity to choose and the procedure for decision making, along with the standard consequential features. Analyzing the role of economic competition, Suzumura points out how restricting competition may, in some circumstances, improve social welfare. This is not to recommend government regulation rather than market competition but to emphasize the importance of procedural features in a competitive context. He concludes with illuminating essays on the history of economic thought, focusing on the ideas of Vilfredo Pareto, Arthur Pigou, John Hicks, and Paul Samuelson.

Choice

Choice
Author: Richard Harper
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2016-01-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0745683908

We make decisions every day. Yet we are sometimes perplexed by these decisions and the decisions of others. To complicate things further, we live in an age where there are more things to choose from than ever before – the Internet is transforming our choices and making us more accountable for them: what we choose is recorded, modelled and used to predict our future behaviour. So are we in a position to make better choices today than we were a decade ago? Certainly there are some who believe so. Psychologists claim we are subject to hidden mental processes that lead us to one thing rather than another; economists offer predictions about what people will buy; and some philosophers claim that our choices echo our evolutionary past. Are these claims merited? Do they reflect the beginnings of a new science of choice? This book offers a critical overview of these and other claims, showing where they are justified and where they are exaggerated. It will be an essential reference for anyone interested in whether science can help us to understand both the ways people make choices in their everyday lives and how these may be changing.

Creating Great Choices

Creating Great Choices
Author: Jennifer Riel
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2017-08-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1633692973

Move Beyond Trade-Off Thinking When it comes to our hardest choices, it can seem as though making trade-offs is inevitable. But what about those crucial times when accepting the obvious trade-off just isn't good enough? What do we do when the choices in front of us don't get us what we need? In those cases, rather than choosing the least worst option, we can use the models in front of us to create a new and superior answer. This is integrative thinking. First introduced by world-renowned strategic thinker Roger Martin in The Opposable Mind, integrative thinking is an approach to problem solving that uses opposing ideas as the basis for innovation. Now, in Creating Great Choices, Martin and his longtime thinking partner Jennifer Riel vividly illustrate how integrative thinking works, and how to do it. The book includes fresh stories of successful integrative thinkers that will demystify the process of creative problem solving, as well as practical tools and exercises to help readers engage with the ideas. And it lays out the authors' four-step methodology for creating great choices, which can be applied in virtually any context. The result is a replicable, thoughtful approach to finding a "third and better way" to make important choices in the face of unacceptable trade‐offs. Insightful and instructive, Creating Great Choices blends storytelling, theory, and hands-on advice to help any leader or manager facing a tough choice.

Strong and Weak

Strong and Weak
Author: Andy Crouch
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2022-11-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830847103

Two common temptations lure us away from abundant living: withdrawing into safety and grasping for power. However, with the characteristic insight, memorable stories, and hopeful realism he is known for, Andy Crouch argues that true flourishing comes when strength and weakness are combined in every human life and community.

Fight

Fight
Author: Kenny Luck
Publisher: WaterBrook
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2008-07-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0307457079

Suit up for the ultimate fight There’s a terrifying truth facing today’s men, and it’s caught many off guard. But once that first overwhelming challenge hits, the reality about evil becomes clear: Every one of us is in a fight for our lives. The enemy is real–and so is the danger. But powerful forces convince us to ignore the spiritual war surrounding us. And that willing surrender ensures the total destruction of all we hold dear. But a new generation of God’s men is beginning to engage with the tools and training to take the fight to the enemy and respond with boldness and duty. This book is the manual for recognizing the deceptions about doing true spiritual battle, realizing the roles men play at the front lines, and rescuing the captives from the enemy’s stronghold. “It’s been said that all evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing. Kenny excels at showing the bigger story we’re engaged in. Fight is a must read for men to defeat the enemy where each of us live–in our marriages, our families, and all our spheres of influence.” --Jim Weidmann, “The Family Night Guy,” senior vp of Promise Keepers, and author of the Family Night Tool Chest series. The call has been issued, but the decision is yours. Will you suit up, get in the battle, and fight? Look for the Fight Workbook– a hands-on guide for personal or group study!

Neutrality as a Policy Choice for Small/Weak Democracies

Neutrality as a Policy Choice for Small/Weak Democracies
Author: Michael F. Palo
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2019-07-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9004395857

In this book, Michael F. Palo explains how a historical and theoretical examination of Belgian neutrality, 1839-1940, can help readers understand the behaviour of small/weak democracies in the international system.