IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/oropre/v60y2012i5p1199-1212.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

METHODS---One-Switch Conditions for Multiattribute Utility Functions

Author

Listed:
  • Ali E. Abbas

    (University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61820)

  • David E. Bell

    (Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts 02163)

Abstract

We introduce a variety of new independence conditions for multiattribute utility functions that permit preference dependencies among the attributes of a decision problem. The hierarchy of new conditions varies in the degree to which it specifies the functional form, ranging from more general solutions with weaker constraints, to more specific solutions with stronger constraints. This formulation provides a wealth of new functional forms that a decision maker may use in a multiattribute decision problem. In addition, it may be used to tailor the utility elicitation process to the comfort level of the decision maker. The new conditions, and the corresponding functional forms, are based on the idea of limiting the number of switches that a decision maker may make between two decision alternatives as a parameter of the problem varies. We show how this formulation also relates many widely used concepts in single and multiattribute utility theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Ali E. Abbas & David E. Bell, 2012. "METHODS---One-Switch Conditions for Multiattribute Utility Functions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1199-1212, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:60:y:2012:i:5:p:1199-1212
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1120.1088
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/opre.1120.1088
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/opre.1120.1088?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David E. Bell, 1979. "Consistent Assessment Procedures Using Conditional Utility Functions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1054-1066, October.
    2. Ali E. Abbas & Ronald A. Howard, 2005. "Attribute Dominance Utility," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 2(4), pages 185-206, December.
    3. Ilia Tsetlin & Robert L. Winkler, 2012. "Multiattribute One-Switch Utility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(3), pages 602-605, March.
    4. Ali E. Abbas & János Aczél, 2010. "The Role of Some Functional Equations in Decision Analysis," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 215-228, June.
    5. Ali E. Abbas & David E. Bell, 2011. "One-Switch Independence for Multiattribute Utility Functions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 59(3), pages 764-771, June.
    6. Peter C. Fishburn, 1974. "von Neumann-Morgenstera Utility Functions on Two Attributes," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 35-45, February.
    7. Peter C. Fishburn, 1977. "Approximations of Two-Attribute Utility Functions," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 30-44, February.
    8. Ali E. Abbas, 2009. "Multiattribute Utility Copulas," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(6), pages 1367-1383, December.
    9. David E. Bell, 1986. "Double-Exponential Utility Functions," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 11(2), pages 351-361, May.
    10. David E. Bell, 1988. "One-Switch Utility Functions and a Measure of Risk," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(12), pages 1416-1424, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dogucan Mazicioglu & Jason R. W. Merrick, 2018. "Behavioral Modeling of Adversaries with Multiple Objectives in Counterterrorism," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(5), pages 962-977, May.
    2. Ying He & James S. Dyer & John C. Butler, 2014. "Decomposing a Utility Function Based on Discrete Distribution Independence," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 233-249, December.
    3. Nina Anchugina, 2017. "One-Switch Discount Functions," Papers 1702.02254, arXiv.org.
    4. Ali E. Abbas & Zhengwei Sun, 2015. "Multiattribute Utility Functions Satisfying Mutual Preferential Independence," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(2), pages 378-393, April.
    5. Ali E. Abbas & David E. Bell, 2015. "Ordinal One-Switch Utility Functions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1411-1419, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ali E. Abbas & David E. Bell, 2011. "One-Switch Independence for Multiattribute Utility Functions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 59(3), pages 764-771, June.
    2. Ali E. Abbas & David E. Bell, 2015. "Ordinal One-Switch Utility Functions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1411-1419, December.
    3. Ali E. Abbas & Zhengwei Sun, 2019. "Archimedean Utility Copulas with Polynomial Generating Functions," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 218-237, September.
    4. Ying He & James S. Dyer & John C. Butler, 2014. "Decomposing a Utility Function Based on Discrete Distribution Independence," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 233-249, December.
    5. Ali E. Abbas & Zhengwei Sun, 2015. "Multiattribute Utility Functions Satisfying Mutual Preferential Independence," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(2), pages 378-393, April.
    6. Ali E. Abbas, 2011. "The Multiattribute Utility Tree," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 8(3), pages 180-205, September.
    7. Ali E. Abbas, 2013. "Utility Copula Functions Matching All Boundary Assessments," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 61(2), pages 359-371, April.
    8. Georges Dionne & Jingyuan Li, 2012. "Comparative Ross Risk Aversion in the Presence of Quadrant Dependent Risks," Cahiers de recherche 1226, CIRPEE.
    9. Dionne, Georges & Li, Jingyuan, 2014. "Comparative Ross risk aversion in the presence of mean dependent risks," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 128-135.
    10. Jiehua Xie & Zhengyong Zhou, 2022. "Patchwork Constructions of Multiattribute Utility Functions," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 141-169, June.
    11. Michel Denuit & Louis Eeckhoudt, 2010. "Bivariate Stochastic Dominance and Substitute Risk-(In)dependent Utilities," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 7(3), pages 302-312, September.
    12. Liesiö, Juuso & Kee, Taeyoung & Malo, Pekka, 2024. "Modeling project interactions in multiattribute portfolio decision analysis: Axiomatic foundations and practical implications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 316(3), pages 988-1000.
    13. L. Robin Keller & Kelly M. Kophazi, 2010. "From the Editors..," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 151-154, June.
    14. L. Robin Keller, 2011. "From the Editor ---Multiattribute and Intertemporal Preferences, Probability, and Stochastic Processes: Models and Assessment," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 8(3), pages 165-169, September.
    15. L. Robin Keller & Kelly M. Kophazi, 2011. "From the Editors---Deterrence, Multiattribute Utility, and Probability and Bayes' Updating," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 83-87, June.
    16. Beccacece, Francesca & Borgonovo, Emanuele & Buzzard, Greg & Cillo, Alessandra & Zionts, Stanley, 2015. "Elicitation of multiattribute value functions through high dimensional model representations: Monotonicity and interactions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 246(2), pages 517-527.
    17. Wang, Jianli & Li, Jingyuan, 2014. "Decreasing Ross risk aversion: Higher-order generalizations and implications," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 136-142.
    18. Francesca Beccacece & Emanuele Borgonovo & Greg Buzzard & Alessandra Cillo & Stanley Zionts, 2013. "Elicitation of Multiattribute Value Functions through High Dimensional Model Representations," Working Papers 495, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    19. Ilia Tsetlin & Robert L. Winkler, 2012. "Multiattribute One-Switch Utility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(3), pages 602-605, March.
    20. Samuel Kotz & Johan René van Dorp, 2010. "Generalized Diagonal Band Copulas with Two-Sided Generating Densities," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 196-214, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:60:y:2012:i:5:p:1199-1212. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.