Rivelazione delle Preferenze, Determinanti Sociali dell'Utilità e Rilevanza dei Dati Soggettivi

This paper is a collection of reflections about the foundations of utility theory. Two main points are made. First, the postulates of Revealed Preference Theory are sufficient but not necessary to give empirical content to Utility Theory. Empirically testable implications can be obtained under alternative assumptions about individuals’ preferences which allow for social determinants of behavior. Second, the observation of individuals’ behaviour may not be sufficient to obtain the information about people’s preferences which is required to study welfare. There are cases where the information about preferences obtained from observed behaviour has to be integrated with information obtained from survey data because of externalities which affect utility but have no behavioural implication.