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Calibration without Reduction for Non-Expected Utility

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  • David Freeman

    (Simon Fraser University)

Abstract

Calibration results in Rabin (2000) and Safra and Segal (2008; 2009) suggest that both expected and non-expected utility theories cannot produce non-negligible risk aversion over small stakes without producing implausible risk aversion over large stakes. This paper provides calibration results for recursive non-expected utility theories that relax the Reduction of Compound Lotteries axiom (as in Segal 1990). These calibration results imply that a broad class of non-expected utility theories can accommodate both small and large stakes risk aversion, even for a decision-maker who faces background risk.

Suggested Citation

  • David Freeman, 2015. "Calibration without Reduction for Non-Expected Utility," Discussion Papers dp15-01, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    • Handle: RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp15-01
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Segal, Uzi, 1990. "Two-Stage Lotteries without the Reduction Axiom," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(2), pages 349-377, March.
    2. Zvi Safra & Uzi Segal, 2008. "Calibration Results for Non-Expected Utility Theories," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 76(5), pages 1143-1166, September.
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    8. Safra, Zvi & Segal, Uzi, 2002. "On the Economic Meaning of Machina's Frechet Differentiability Assumption," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 450-461, June.
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    12. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    13. Grant, Simon & Kajii, Atsushi, 1998. "AUSI expected utility: An anticipated utility theory of relative disappointment aversion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 277-290, November.
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    16. Matthew Rabin, 2000. "Risk Aversion and Expected-Utility Theory: A Calibration Theorem," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(5), pages 1281-1292, September.
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    18. Shiri Artstein-Avidan & David Dillenberger, 2010. "Dynamic Disappointment Aversion: Don't Tell Me Anything Until You Know For Sure," PIER Working Paper Archive 10-025, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    19. Carlin, Paul S., 1992. "Violations of the reduction and independence axioms in Allais-type and common-ratio effect experiments," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 213-235, October.
    20. Dillenberger, David, 2008. "Preferences for One-Shot Resolution of Uncertainty and Allais-Type Behavior," MPRA Paper 8342, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. David Dillenberger, 2010. "Preferences for One‐Shot Resolution of Uncertainty and Allais‐Type Behavior," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 78(6), pages 1973-2004, November.
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    23. Segal, Uzi & Spivak, Avia, 1990. "First order versus second order risk aversion," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 111-125, June.
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    25. Zvi Safra & Uzi Segal, 2009. "Risk aversion in the small and in the large: Calibration results for betweenness functionals," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 27-37, February.
    26. Dekel, Eddie, 1986. "An axiomatic characterization of preferences under uncertainty: Weakening the independence axiom," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 304-318, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Han Bleichrodt & Jason N. Doctor & Yu Gao & Chen Li & Daniella Meeker & Peter P. Wakker, 2019. "Resolving Rabin’s paradox," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 239-260, December.
    2. Balter, Anne G. & Chau, Ki Wai & Schweizer, Nikolaus, 2022. "Rabin’s calibration theorem revisited," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    3. Freeman, David, 2017. "Risk taking with background risk under recursive rank-dependent utility," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 72-74.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    risk aversion; calibration; non-expected utility theories; recursive preferences.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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