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Decision making with imprecise probabilistic information

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  • Gajdos, Thibault
  • Tallon, Jean-Marc
  • Vergnaud, Jean-Christophe

Abstract

We develop an axiomatic approach to decision under uncertainty that explicitly takes into account the information available to the decision maker. The information is described by a set of priors and a reference prior. We define a notion of imprecision for this informational setting and show that a decision maker who is averse to information imprecision maximizes the minimum expected utility computed with respect to a subset of the set of initially given priors. The extent to which this set is reduced can be seen as a measure of imprecision aversion. This approach thus allows a lot of flexibility in modelling the decision maker attitude towards imprecision. In contrast, applyingGilboa-Schmeidler [1989] maxmin criterion to the initial set of priors amounts to assuming extreme pessimism.
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(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

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  • Gajdos, Thibault & Tallon, Jean-Marc & Vergnaud, Jean-Christophe, 2004. "Decision making with imprecise probabilistic information," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 647-681, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:mateco:v:40:y:2004:i:6:p:647-681
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    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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