| Sumario: | Part of a special issue on consumer choice theory in the 20th century. The writer discusses the issue of integrability in consumer choice theory. In the first half of the 20th century, the literature in this area was very complex and some of the ideas associated with integrability represented a radical critique of what is now standard choice theory. However, the integrability problem was solved by its systematic transformation from a portmanteau word that carried a wide range of criticisms and concerns into a mathematical restriction on demand functions. However, it was only the narrow, redefined, problem of integrability that was solved, while the complex set of theoretical issues that motivated earlier investigations was essentially untouched by the “solution.” In recent years some of these issues have begun to resurface and threaten the accord on integrability.
|
|---|