Random Utility Theory for Social Choice

Hossein Azari Soufiani; David C. Parkes; Lirong Xia

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arXiv · 1211.2476

Random Utility Theory for Social Choice

Hossein Azari Soufiani·David C. Parkes·Lirong Xia

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Abstract

Random utility theory models an agent's preferences on alternatives by drawing a real-valued score on each alternative (typically independently) from a parameterized distribution, and then ranking the alternatives according to scores. A special case that has received significant attention is the Plackett-Luce model, for which fast inference methods for maximum likelihood estimators are available. This paper develops conditions on general random utility models that enable fast inference within a Bayesian framework through MC-EM, providing concave loglikelihood functions and bounded sets of global maxima solutions. Results on both real-world and simulated data provide support for the scalability of the approach and capability for model selection among general random utility models including Plackett-Luce.

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Hossein Azari Soufiani, David C. Parkes, Lirong Xia. 2012-11-11. Random Utility Theory for Social Choice. https://arxiv.org/abs/1211.2476

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