Published

This section describes my recent publications on decision theory, grouped under four broad themes.

I have on-going work within the first two themes: please go to the In Progress section for details.

For a complete list of publications, please see my CV.        

Voting models

Fabrizi, Lippert, Pan and RYAN (2022) "Unanimous Jury Voting with an Ambiguous Likelihood" Theory and Decision 93: 399-425.

RYAN (2021) "Feddersen and Pesendorfer Meet Ellsberg" Theory and Decision 90(3): 543-577.

Probabilistic choice

RYAN (2021) "Stochastic Expected Utility for Binary Choice: A `Modular' Axiomatic Foundation" Economic Theory 72: 641-669. 

RYAN, M. (2018) "Strict Scalability of Choice Probabilities" Journal of Mathematical Psychology 84: 89–99.

RYAN, M. (2018) “Uncertainty and Binary Stochastic Choice,” Economic Theory 65(3): 629-662.

RYAN, M. (2017) “Binary Choices that Satisfy Stochastic Betweenness” Journal of Mathematical Economics 70: 176–184.

        The Working Paper version contains some additional material.

RYAN, M. (2015) “A Strict Stochastic Utility Theorem” Economics Bulletin 35(4): 2664–2672.

Intertemporal preferences and discounting

The following papers study properties of mixtures of discount functions, and implications for social discounting on a "utilitarian" basis:

Anchugina, N., M. RYAN and A. Slinko (2019) “Mixing Discount Functions: Implications for Collective Time Preferences,” Mathematical Social Sciences 102: 1-14.

 Anchugina, N., M. RYAN and A. Slinko (2017) “Hyperbolic Discounting of the Far-Distant Future,” Economics Letters 155: 140-143.

Preferences over opportunity sets

The following papers comprise my work on characterising preferences over opportunity sets.  Much of this work adapts results from the mathematics of abstract convex geometries (ACGs).  My 2016 paper in Social Choice and Welfare clarifies some of the links between these two literatures.  The 2010 paper in Decisions in Economics and Finance is included here since it explores the relationship between ACGs and the better known (to decision theorists) abstract convex structures known as mixture sets.

RYAN, M. (2016) “Essentiality and Convexity in the Ranking of Opportunity Sets” Social Choice and Welfare 47(4): 853–877.

RYAN, M. (2014) “Belief Functions and Preference for Flexibility” Economics Bulletin 34(1): 581–588.

RYAN, M. (2014) “Path Independent Choice and the Ranking of Opportunity Sets” Social Choice and Welfare 42(1): 193-213.

See also the important correction to this paper in Qin, D. and M. RYAN. (2016) “Rationalizability of Plott Consistent Choice Functions: A Corrigendum” Social Choice and Welfare 47(3): 761–762.

RYAN, M. (2010) “Mixture Sets on Finite Domains” Decisions in Economics and Finance 33(2): 139–147.

Bossert, W., M. RYAN and A. Slinko (2009) “Orders on Subsets Rationalised by Abstract Convex Geometries” Order 26(3): 237-244.