This note presents an experimental study of the random lottery incentive mechanism. In the baseline treatment we observe risk behavior in a given choice problem. We show that by integrating a second, asymmetrically dominated choice problem in a random incentive mechanism risk behavior can be...

In the context of eliciting preferences for decision making under risk, we ask the question: which might be the 'best' method for eliciting such preferences?ʺ. It is well known that different methods differ in terms of the bias in the elicitation; it is rather less well-known that different...

Standard economic theory assumes that individual risk taking decisions are independent from the social context. Recent experimental evidence however shows that the income of peers has a systematic impact on observed degrees of risk aversion. In particular, subjects strive for balance in the...

The present paper contributes to the controversy regarding gender differences in risk taking by investigating the impact of social comparison. Social comparison is formalized by integrating a social reference point into the model of Köszegi and Rabin. Drawing on previous results from...

This thesis deals with standard and behavioral perspectives on the role of expectations in individual decision making. Chapter 2 considers the influence of subjective expectations on insurance demand. The analysis takes a standard approach by arguing that the subjective risk assessment of the...