The Congruence Axiom and path independence

This paper examines the connection between path independence and transitive rationalization of a choice function in a general domain where a choice fu nction may nor include all possible non-empty subsets of the universal set. Describing a sequential choice procedure, this paper show's that the requi rement of path independence of a choice function is equivalent to Richter's Congruence Axiom and thus to its transitive rationalization. Journal of Ec onomic Literature Classification Number: D11. (C) 1999 Academic Press.