In this paper, expected utility, defined by a Taylor series expansion around expected wealth, is maximized. The coefficient of relative risk aversion (CRRA) that is commensurate with a 100% investment in the risky asset is simulated. The following parameters are varied: the riskless return, the...

Define the riskiness of a gamble as the reciprocal of the absolute risk aversion (ARA) of an individual with constant ARA who is indifferent between taking and not taking that gamble. We characterize this index by axioms, chief among them a “duality” axiom which, roughly speaking, asserts...

Under state-dependent preferences, probabilities and units of scale of state-dependent utilities are not separately identified. In standard models, only their products matter to decisions. Separate identification has been studied under implicit actions by Drèze or under explicit actions and...

This paper analyses the formation of international environmental agreements (IEAs) under uncertainty, focusing on the role of learning and risk aversion. It bridges two strands of literature: one focused on the role learning for the success of IEA formation when countries are risk neutral and...

Asset demand tests for Expected Utility have almost universally been implemented in contingent claim settings where markets are complete. However when markets are incomplete, these tests cannot be applied since contingent claim prices cannot be uniquely recovered from given asset prices and the...

This experimental paper investigates the impact of emotions on risk and return estimates of stocks. Participants rate well-known blue-chip firms on an emotional scale and forecast risk and return of the firms' stock. We find that positive emotions lead to a prediction of high return and low...

Economic uncertainty has to do with the consequences of actions under different circumstances. This raises two questions: First, how sensitive are the outcomes of actions to variations in the environment? Second, how clearly can we distinguish between environments? Robustness comes at the price...

Uncertainty in economics is generated by “nature” but also by the model we use to “produce the future”. The production of the future comprises besides the allocation of resources on different instruments (technologies, financial products) also the design of the instruments....

Foster and Hart proposed an operational measure of riskiness for discrete random variables. We show that their defining equation has no solution for many common continuous distributions. We show how to extend consistently the definition of riskiness to continuous random variables. For many...

The principle of indifference states that events should be assigned equal probabilities if no reason can be given for regarding one event as more likely than another. This paper provides a normative argument for the principle of indifference based on a new formal model of decision under...