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Information, Investment Behavior, and Efficient Portfolios

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  • Baron, David P.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to indicate that the opportunity to obtain information regarding the probability distribution of the return on a risky asset, such as a portfolio or a mutual fund, may cause a risk-averse decision maker to accept a single-period actuarially unfair gamble. This behavior is the same as that implied by utility functions that have convex segments, as originally considered by Friedman and Savage [2] and by Markowitz [12], but the utility function derived is not convex on any interval, since it is the envelope of a finite set of strictly increasing, strictly concave functions. Similar utility functions have been obtained, by Fleming [1] because of transactions costs, by Hakansson [4] by imposing a borrowing restriction on an investment-consumption model, and by Masson [14] in the context of an imperfect capital market. In this paper acceptance of single-period actuarially unfair gambles by an individual risk averse with respect to future wealth levels results from the opportunity to acquire information. The acquisition of information creates a set of conditional decisions each of which the individual may treat in an optimal manner, and that set of conditional decisions may induce risk-taking behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Baron, David P., 1974. "Information, Investment Behavior, and Efficient Portfolios," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(4), pages 555-566, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:jfinqa:v:9:y:1974:i:04:p:555-566_01
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    Cited by:

    1. Broll, Udo & Wong, Wing-Keung & Wu, Mojia, 2013. "Banking Firm and Two-Moment Decision Making," MPRA Paper 51687, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Wing-Keung Wong & Chenghu Ma, 2008. "Preferences over location-scale family," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 37(1), pages 119-146, October.
    3. Douglas W. Blackburn & Andrey D. Ukhov, 2013. "Individual vs. Aggregate Preferences: The Case of a Small Fish in a Big Pond," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(2), pages 470-484, August.
    4. Wang, Lanfang & Wang, Susheng, 2021. "Unusual investor behavior under tacit and endogenous market signals," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 76-97.
    5. Mark Grinblatt & Juhani T. Linnainmaa, 2011. "Jensen's Inequality, Parameter Uncertainty, and Multi-period Investment," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 1-34.

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