what is social choice theory 
social choice theory is a field of study focused on the mechanisms of collective decision making the central questions of the field include voting systems and group choices it has ramifications in economics politics behavioral science and beyond who was kenneth j arrow kenneth j arrow was an american economist well known for his contributions to general equilibrium theory and welfare theory 3 in 1972 arrow became the youngest person to be awarded the nobel memorial prize in economic sciences arrow taught at numerous institutions including stanford university harvard university and the university of chicago and at least five of his students have gone on to win the nobel prize as well 