We consider optimal stopping problems for ambiguity averse decision makers with multiple priors. In general, backward induction fails. If, however, the class of priors is time-consistent, we establish a generalization of the classical theory of optimal stopping. To this end, we develop first...

This study investigates reference-dependent choice with a stochastic, state-dependent reference point. The optimal reference-dependent solution equals the optimal consumption solution (no loss aversion) if the reference point is selected fully endogenously. Given that loss aversion is...

We develop a theory of optimal stopping problems under ambiguity in continuous time. Using results from (backward) stochastic calculus, we characterize the value function as the smallest (nonlinear) supermartingale dominating the payoff process. For Markovian models, we derive an adjusted...

We relate an observed difference between single men (SM) and single women (SW) in attitudes towards risk to the higher value assigned to social status by SM than by SW. In the marriage market, low status carries a harsher penalty for SM than for SW because when selecting a partner, the social...

Different models of uncertainty aversion imply strikingly different economic behavior. The key to understanding these differences lies in the dichotomy between first-order and second-order ambiguity aversion which I define here. My definition and its characterization are independent of specific...

There is a large literature estimating Arrow-Pratt coefficients of absolute and relative risk aversion. A striking feature of this literature is the very wide variation in the reported estimates of the coefficients. While there are often legitimate reasons for these differences in the estimates,...

This paper explicitly solves, in closed form, the optimal consumption and port folio choice for an ambiguity averse investor in a Merton-type two assets economy where a risk premium follows a mean-reverting process. The investor's preferences are represented by the recursive multiple priors...

We propose a novel one-sector stochastic growth model, where producitivity growth follows a Markov-switching process with two regimes, and where households have generalized recursive smooth ambiguity preferences. The adopted class of preferences permits a three-way separation of risk aversion,...

I develop a stochastic growth model with production where there is a hidden state governing productivity growth regimes, and the hidden state evolves according to a Markov chain. Economic agents learn about the hidden state and display ambiguity aversion in the spirit of Klibanoff et al. (2005)....

We study portfolio diversification in an experimental decision task, where asset returns depend on a draw from an ambiguous urn. Holding other information identical and controlling for the level of ambiguity, we find that labeling assets as being familiar or from the homeland of subjects...