Michael Webster

The simulations of Steels & Belpaeme (S&B) suggest that communication could lead to color categories that are closely shared within a language and potentially diverge across languages. We argue that this is opposite of the patterns that are actually observed in empirical studies of color naming. Focal color choices more often exhibit strong concordance across languages while also showing pronounced variability within any language.

A resolution of Sen's paretian liberal paradox is provided which does not require agents to waive their rights or have self-supporting preferences. The solution concept is an elaboration of a certain kind of path dependence, primary path construction.