Author(s)

Samuel I. Egwunatum¹, Justina C. Oboreh²

¹Department of Quantity Surveying, Construction Economics Unit, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria.
²Department of Entrepreneurship, Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro, Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to validate G.L.S Shackle’s theory of Potential surprise in economic decisions. The critique against potential surprise is its subjective process of making economic decisions. Attempts at formalizing the theory in mathematical sense have seen the inductive use of sub-additive probabilities and infinite alleles with the frame of discernment (θ) for evidence theory. The theory, generally seems inseparable from set theory and probability regarding how belief function Bel(H) is derivably obtained from the set operation of empirical evidence m(n) and frame of discernment. In this paper, an algebraic approach is proposed using abductive analysis of the bounded space of [ℜ, μ]. Test of sequence in chaos economic state (H) space showed Cauchy compliance and proved that ℜ and μ commute conjugatively. Consequently, a derivation for limiting state of economic decisions as indeterminate from the propensity of potential surprise between the bounds of awful with implausible outcome (ℜ) and astounding with implausible outcome (μ) is theorized.

Potential Surprise, Indeterminacy, Economic State Space, Conjugate Variables, Chaos

Egwunatum, S. and Oboreh, J. (2023) Theoretics on the Indeterminacy of Economic Decisions. Theoretical Economics Letters, 13, 332-350. doi: 10.4236/tel.2023.132021.