Economic Theory Commons^™

Intransitivity Shown by an Assignment Problem The following 3X3 matrix shows the payoff to a pair person i and person j. Their joint return is the term i,j in the matrix. The payoff to person i plus the payoff to person j must be at least as much as their joint return. The dual problem seeks the maximum joint return on the hypothesis that nobody is left without a partner and nobody has more than one partner. The pertinent question is whether the best match can be inferred from the ranks of the payoffs. The answer is no. JEL C71. …