Quasitransitive relation
Encyclopedia
Quasitransitivity is a weakened version of transitivity
that is used in social choice theory
or microeconomics
. Informally, a relation is quasitransitive if it is symmetric for some values and transitive elsewhere.
T over a set X is quasitransitive if for all a, b, and c in X the following holds:
If the relation is also antisymmetric, T is transitive.
Alternately, for a relation T, define the asymmetric
part P:
Then T is quasitransitive iff P is transitive.
s are assumed to be quasitransitive (rather than transitive) in some economic contexts. The classic example is a person indifferent between 10 and 11 grams of sugar and indifferent between 11 and 12 grams of sugar, but who prefers 12 grams of sugar to 10.
Transitive relation
In mathematics, a binary relation R over a set X is transitive if whenever an element a is related to an element b, and b is in turn related to an element c, then a is also related to c....
that is used in social choice theory
Social choice theory
Social choice theory is a theoretical framework for measuring individual interests, values, or welfares as an aggregate towards collective decision. A non-theoretical example of a collective decision is passing a set of laws under a constitution. Social choice theory dates from Condorcet's...
or microeconomics
Microeconomics
Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of how the individual modern household and firms make decisions to allocate limited resources. Typically, it applies to markets where goods or services are being bought and sold...
. Informally, a relation is quasitransitive if it is symmetric for some values and transitive elsewhere.
Formal definition
A binary relationBinary relation
In mathematics, a binary relation on a set A is a collection of ordered pairs of elements of A. In other words, it is a subset of the Cartesian product A2 = . More generally, a binary relation between two sets A and B is a subset of...
T over a set X is quasitransitive if for all a, b, and c in X the following holds:
If the relation is also antisymmetric, T is transitive.
Alternately, for a relation T, define the asymmetric
Symmetric relation
In mathematics, a binary relation R over a set X is symmetric if it holds for all a and b in X that if a is related to b then b is related to a.In mathematical notation, this is:...
part P:
Then T is quasitransitive iff P is transitive.
Examples
PreferencePreference
-Definitions in different disciplines:The term “preferences” is used in a variety of related, but not identical, ways in the scientific literature. This makes it necessary to make explicit the sense in which the term is used in different social sciences....
s are assumed to be quasitransitive (rather than transitive) in some economic contexts. The classic example is a person indifferent between 10 and 11 grams of sugar and indifferent between 11 and 12 grams of sugar, but who prefers 12 grams of sugar to 10.