Cardinalization

In economics, the term "cardinalization" is often used to refer to the process of assigning numerical values to utility in order to make it measurable and comparable across individuals. This involves transforming ordinal preferences (which only rank preferences without specifying magnitudes of satisfaction) into cardinal measures (which assign specific numerical values to levels of satisfaction). By cardinalizing utility, economists aim to make utility a quantifiable concept that can be analyzed mathematically, facilitating the application of various economic models and tools for decision-making and analysis.