While it is common knowledge that portfolio separation in a continuous-time lognormal market is due to the basic properties of the Gaussian distribution, the usual textbook exposition relies on dynamic programming and thus Itô stochastic calculus and the appropriate regularity conditions. This...

This paper make straightforward extensions to Anderson's (1996) nonparametric statistical tests of stochastic dominance criteria to bivariate distributions. These test are applied to a time series of cross-section datasets on household level total expenditure and non labour market time in the UK.

This paper develops some new stochastic dominance (SD) rules for ranking transformations on a random variable, which is the first time to study ranking approach for transformations on the discrete framework. By using the expected utility theory, the authors first present a sufficient condition...

This paper studies a dynamic adjustment process in a large society of forward-looking agents where payoffs are given by a normal form supermodular game. The stationary states of the dynamics correspond to the Nash equilibria of the stage game. It is shown that if the stage game has a monotone...

This paper presents some new stochastic dominance (SD) criteria for ranking transformations on a random variable, which is the first time that this is done for transformations under the discrete framework. By using the expected utility theory, the authors first propose a sufficient condition for...

A counterexample is presented to show that the sufficient condition for one transformation dominating another by the second degree stochastic dominance, proposed by Theorem 5 of Levy (Stochastic dominance and expected utility: Survey and analysis, 1992), does not hold. Then, by restricting the...

This paper is concerned with concepts - poverty, inequality, affluence, and polarization - that are typically treated in different literatures. Our aim here is to place them within a common framework and to identify the way in which different classes of income transfers contribute to different...

When is one distribution (of income, consumption, or some other economic variable) more equal or better than another? This question has proven difficult to answer in situations where distribution functions intersect and no unambiguous ranking can be attained without introducing weaker criteria...

Little in the scholarly economics literature is directed specifically to the performance of stable value funds, although they occupy a leading place among retirement investment vehicles. They are currently offered in more than one-third of all defined contribution plans in the USA, with more...

In this paper we analyze insurance demand when the utility function depends both upon final wealth and the level of losses or gains relative to a reference point. Besides some comparative statics results, we discuss the links with first-order risk aversion, with the Omega measure, and with a...