Paul A. Samuelson: teorie projevených preferencí a její využití v teorii indexů

Abstract

P.A. Samuelson, one of the most important economists of the 20 th century, died in December last year. P.A. Samuelson influenced significantly economics in many ways. Revealed preference theory can be considered as his main contribution to microeconomic analysis and as one of the fundamental thoughts in consumer theory. Samuelson´s theory has been extended gradually (e.g. by H.S. Houthakker) and is used in many areas of economics. The aim of this paper is to describe the Samuelson´s process of formulation of basic revealed preference theory thought, to define its relation to WARP and SARP and to show use of revealed preference in index theory to evaluation of consumer´s welfare changes. The paper is conceived as a theoretical one, it can be considered as a basis for possible further analysis.