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Small-scale changes in wealth and attitudes toward risk

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  • Sergio Sousa

    (University of Nottingham)

Abstract

This paper reports on an experiment designed to examine the effects of small-scale changes in wealth on risk attitudes. We find that the money given prior to risky choices does not induce a change of subjects' risk preferences. This result supports a key assumption in a recent literature over calibration critique of decision theories. Furthermore, as the money given to subjects in our experiment is administered in between risky tasks and framed as a reward rather than a windfall gain, our result suggests that experimental findings reporting that a prior monetary gain induces individuals to take more risks (house-money effect) may be more sensitive to prior experience with the risk-elicitation task or framing of the money than previously thought.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio Sousa, 2010. "Small-scale changes in wealth and attitudes toward risk," Discussion Papers 2010-11, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    • Handle: RePEc:not:notcdx:2010-11
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    Cited by:

    1. Urban Sila & Ricardo Sousa, 2014. "Windfall gains and labour supply: evidence from the European household panel," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-27, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    risk aversion; wealth effects; risk-elicitation; house-money effect; narrow framing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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