Freedom of choice explains the opportunities and autonomy of individuals to take action selected from at least two available options, not limited by external parties.
Video Freedom of choice
In law
In an abortion debate, for example, the term "freedom of choice" can be used to maintain the position that a woman has the right to decide whether to continue or terminate the pregnancy. Similarly, other topics such as euthanasia, contraception and same-sex marriage are sometimes discussed in terms of individual rights of "freedom of choice". Some social problems, such as "Soda Ban" New York have been defended and opposed with reference to "freedom of choice."
Maps Freedom of choice
In economics
In microeconomics, freedom of choice is the freedom of economic agents to allocate their resources as they wish, among options (such as goods, services, or assets) available to them. This includes the freedom to engage in the work available to them.
Ratner et al., In 2008, cites libertarian paternalism literature that states that consumers do not always act in their own interests. They attribute this phenomenon to factors such as emotion, cognitive and bias limitations, and incomplete information that they claim can be improved by various proposed interventions. They discuss the provision of information and decision-making tools to consumers, organize and limit their market choices, and tap emotions and manage expectations. Each, they claim, can improve the ability of consumers to choose.
However, economic freedom to choose ultimately depends on market competition, because the buyer's choice is usually the result of various factors controlled by the seller, such as the overall quality of a product or service and advertising. If there is a monopoly, consumers no longer have the freedom to choose to buy from other manufacturers. As Friedrich Hayek points out:
The freedom to choose us in a competitive society lies in the fact that, if one person refuses to satisfy our wishes, we can move on to another. But if we face the monopoly, we are in the absolute belaskasihnya.
As indicated in the above quote, libertarian thinkers are often strong advocates of increasing freedom of choice. One example is the book and TV series from Milton Friedman Free to Choose .
There is no consensus as to whether increasing economic freedom of choice leads to an increase in happiness. In a study, the Heritage Foundation's 2011 Economic Freedom Index showed a strong correlation between the Index of Economic Freedom and the happiness in a country.
Measuring freedom of choice
The deductive-axiomatic approach has been used to overcome the problem of measuring the amount of freedom of choice (FoC) that a person enjoys. In a 1990 paper, Prasanta K. Pattanaik and Yongsheng Xu presented three conditions to be met by FoC measurements:
- Indifference between situations without choice . Only has the same amount option for FoC, no matter what the choice.
- strict monotonicity . Having two different options x and y numbered more FoC than just having the option x.
- Independence . If situation A has more FoC than B, by adding a new x option to both (not contained in A or B), A will still have more FoC than B.
They prove that cardinality is the only measure that satisfies these axioms, what they observe as counter-intuitive and suggestive that one or more axioms should be redefined. They illustrate this with examples of options "set for traveling by train" or "traveling by car," which should produce more FoC than the options set for "traveling in a red car" or "traveling in a blue car". Several suggestions have been made to solve this problem, by formulating the axioms, usually including the concept of preference, or rejecting the third axiom.
Relationship with happiness
A 2006 study by Simona Botti and Ann L. McGill suggests that, when subjects are presented with different options and have the freedom to choose between them, their choices increase their satisfaction with positive and dissatisfaction with negative outcomes relative to non-voters.
A 2010 study by Hazel Rose Mark and Barry Schwartz compiled a list of experiments on freedom of choice and argued that "too many choices can produce crippling uncertainty, depression, and egoism." Schwartz argues that people often experience remorse because of the opportunity cost of not making optimal decisions and that, in some scenarios, the overall satisfaction of people is sometimes higher when decisions are difficult to make by others than by themselves, even when other people's choices are worse. Schwarts has written a book and gave a speech criticizing the advantages of choice in modern society, although it recognizes that "some options are better than none."
See also
- Choice and evaluability in the economy
- Consumer choice
- Consumer sovereignty
- Free Select , books and TV series by Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman.
- Free will
- Opportunity cost
- Right to choose
- Right to Choose (Bill of Consumer Rights)
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia