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Ellsberg's two-color experiment, portfolio inertia and ambiguity

Author

Listed:
  • Sujoy Mukerji

    (University of Oxford)

  • Jean-Marc Tallon

    (EUREQUA - Equipe Universitaire de Recherche en Economie Quantitative - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Results in this paper relate the observation of an interval of prices at which a decision maker (DM) strictly prefers to hold a zero position on an asset (termed "portfolio inertia") to the DM's perception of the underlying payoff relevant events as ambiguous, as the term is defined in [Econometrica 69 (2001) 265]. The connection between portfolio inertia and ambiguity is established without invoking a parametric preference form, such as the Choquet expected utility or the max–min multiple priors model. This allows us to draw an observable distinction between portfolio inertia that may arise purely due to first-order risk aversion type effects, such as those which could arise even if preferences were probabilistically sophisticated, and portfolio inertia that involves ambiguity perceptions.

Suggested Citation

  • Sujoy Mukerji & Jean-Marc Tallon, 2003. "Ellsberg's two-color experiment, portfolio inertia and ambiguity," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00499358, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00499358
    DOI: 10.1016/S0304-4068(03)00009-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sujoy Mukerji & Jean-Marc Tallon, 2005. "Ambiguity aversion and the absence of indexed debt," Studies in Economic Theory, in: Alessandro Citanna & John Donaldson & Herakles Polemarchakis & Paolo Siconolfi & Stephan E. Spear (ed.), Essays in Dynamic General Equilibrium Theory, pages 143-179, Springer.
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    4. Sujoy Mukerji & Jean-Marc Tallon, 2001. "Ambiguity Aversion and Incompleteness of Financial Markets," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(4), pages 883-904.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fujikawa, Takemi, 2009. "The hot stove effect in repeated-play decision making under ambiguity," MPRA Paper 17647, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Chateauneuf, Alain & Ventura, Caroline, 2010. "The no-trade interval of Dow and Werlang: Some clarifications," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Larry G. Epstein & Martin Schneider, 2010. "Ambiguity and Asset Markets," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 315-346, December.
    4. Youichiro Higashi & Sujoy Mukerji & Norio Takeoka & Jean‐Marc Tallon, 2008. "Comment on “Ellsberg's two‐color experiment, portfolio inertia and ambiguity”," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 4(3), pages 433-444, September.
    5. Sujoy Mukerji & Jean-Marc Tallon & EUREQua & CNRS - Universite Paris I., 2003. "An overview of economic applications of David Schmeidler`s models of decision making under uncertainty," Economics Series Working Papers 165, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. M. A. Virasoro, 2011. "Non-Gaussianity of the Intraday Returns Distribution: its evolution in time," Papers 1112.0770, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2011.
    7. Jiang, Julia & Liu, Jun & Tian, Weidong & Zeng, Xudong, 2022. "Portfolio concentration, portfolio inertia, and ambiguous correlation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    8. Lin, Qian & Sun, Xianming & Zhou, Chao, 2020. "Horizon-unbiased investment with ambiguity," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    9. Carmela Mauro, 2008. "Uncertainty Aversion Vs. Competence: An Experimental Market Study," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 301-331, March.

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