Why do we believe that more money will buy us more happiness (when in fact it does not)? In this paper, we propose a model to explain this puzzle. The model incorporates both adaptation and social comparison. A rational person who fully accounts for the dynamics of these factors would indeed buy...

Using a survey study of 261 decisions under uncertainty, we explore the factors that explain risk taking behavior and those that predict the importance of a decision. We also examine the relationship between framing and status quo, the similarity between monetary and non-monetary decisions, as...

We introduce a modification of the discounted utility model that accounts for both habituation and satiation in intertemporal choice. Habituation level and satiation level are state variables that induce changes in preferences as those states vary. We examine several properties of our model,...

We consider a resource allocation problem in which time is the principal resource. Utility is derived from time-consuming leisure activities, as well as from consumption. To acquire consumption, time needs to be allocated to income generating activities (i.e., work). Leisure (e.g., social...

For decisions whose consequences accrue over time, there are several possible techniques to compute total utility. One is to discount utilities of future consequences at some appropriate rate. The second is to discount per-period certainty equivalents. And the third is to compute net present...

We approach the problem of preference aggregation by endowing both individuals and coalitions with partially-ordered or incomplete preferences for decision under risk. Restricting attention to the case of complete individual preferences, and assuming complete preferences for some pairs of agents...

Our analysis (Baucells and Lippman [2001]) of the problem of legal hold-up in co-ownership, in which legal partition is the only remedy to force a sale, proceeded as if a sale of the asset could be effected at any time at a fixed price if the cotenants agree. Here we utilize the more realistic...

We introduce a modification of the discounted utility model that accounts for both satiation and habit formation in intertemporal choice. Preferences depend on the satiation level and the habitual consumption level. These two state variables, together with the shape of the value function, drive...

We approach the problem of preference aggregation by endowing both individuals and coalitions with partially-ordered or incomplete cardinal preferences. Consistency across preferences for coalitions comes in the form of the Extended Pareto Rule: if two disjoint coalitions A and B prefer x to y,...