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The impact of prudence on optimal prevention revisited

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  • Li, Jingyuan

    (Lingnan University)

  • Dionne, Georges

    (HEC Montreal, Canada Research Chair in Risk Management)

Abstract

This paper re-examines the link between absolute prudence and self-protection activities. We show that the level of effort chosen by an agent with positive and decreasing absolute prudence is larger than the optimal effort chosen by a risk-neutral agent if the degree of absolute prudence is less than a threshold that is utility-independent and empirically verifiable. We explain this threshold by a trade-off between the variation of the variance and the level of the third moment of the loss distribution. We also discuss our result in terms of skewness. Our contribution extends the model of Eeckhoudt and Gollier (2005).

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Jingyuan & Dionne, Georges, 2010. "The impact of prudence on optimal prevention revisited," Working Papers 10-4, HEC Montreal, Canada Research Chair in Risk Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:crcrmw:2010_004
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kimball, Miles S, 1990. "Precautionary Saving in the Small and in the Large," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 53-73, January.
    2. Menegatti, Mario, 2009. "Optimal prevention and prudence in a two-period model," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 393-397, November.
    3. Kaïs Dachraoui & Georges Dionne & Louis Eeckhoudt & Philippe Godfroid, 2004. "Comparative Mixed Risk Aversion: Definition and Application to Self-Protection and Willingness to Pay," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 261-276, December.
    4. Bruno Jullien & Bernard Salanié & François Salanié, 1999. "Should More Risk-Averse Agents Exert More Effort?," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 24(1), pages 19-28, June.
    5. W. Henry Chiu, 2005. "Skewness Preference, Risk Aversion, and the Precedence Relations on Stochastic Changes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(12), pages 1816-1828, December.
    6. Louis Eeckhoudt & Harris Schlesinger, 2006. "Putting Risk in Its Proper Place," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 280-289, March.
    7. Dionne, Georges & Eeckhoudt, Louis, 1985. "Self-insurance, self-protection and increased risk aversion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 39-42.
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    9. Eeckhoudt, Louis & Etner, Johanna & Schroyen, Fred, 2009. "The values of relative risk aversion and prudence: A context-free interpretation," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 1-7, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Absolute prudence; moments of the loss distribution; self-protection; variance; skewness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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