Preference for Variety

We consider a decision maker who enjoys choosing from a varied set of alternatives. Building on behavioral evidence, we propose testable axioms which characterize preference for variety, and provide a representation theorem. We go on to illustrate the potential effects of preference for variety in a model of retailing. Consumer welfare may be decreasing in the competitiveness of the retailing sector as competition eliminates the scope for retailers to offer variety. Mainstream consumers with a preference for variety and consumers with eccentric tastes enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Competition over mainstream consumers makes retailers offer more exotic goods, while eccentric consumers subsidize their carrying costs.Preferences, variety, representation theorem, retail, competition.

A law of the iterated logarithm for stochastic approximation procedures in d-dimensional Euclidean space

AbstractIn this paper, we investigate the rate of convergence for general d-dimensional stochastic approximation procedures and present an explicit expression for the asymptotic bounds in the law of the iterated logarithm