IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/insuma/v100y2021icp429-435.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Concave/convex weighting and utility functions for risk: A new light on classical theorems

Author

Listed:
  • Wakker, Peter P.
  • Yang, Jingni

Abstract

This paper analyzes concave and convex utility and probability distortion functions for decision under risk (law-invariant functionals). We characterize concave utility for virtually all existing models, and concave/convex probability distortion functions for rank-dependent utility and prospect theory in complete generality, through an appealing and well-known condition (convexity of preference, i.e., quasiconcavity of the functional). Unlike preceding results, we do not need to presuppose any continuity, let be differentiability.

Suggested Citation

  • Wakker, Peter P. & Yang, Jingni, 2021. "Concave/convex weighting and utility functions for risk: A new light on classical theorems," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 429-435.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:insuma:v:100:y:2021:i:c:p:429-435
    DOI: 10.1016/j.insmatheco.2021.07.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167668721001074
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.insmatheco.2021.07.002?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Ali Khan & Metin Uyanık, 2021. "Topological connectedness and behavioral assumptions on preferences: a two-way relationship," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(2), pages 411-460, March.
    2. Ulrich Schmidt & Horst Zank, 2008. "Risk Aversion in Cumulative Prospect Theory," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(1), pages 208-216, January.
    3. Bellini, Fabio & Koch-Medina, Pablo & Munari, Cosimo & Svindland, Gregor, 2021. "Law-invariant functionals that collapse to the mean," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 83-91.
    4. Dekel, Eddie, 1989. "Asset Demands without the Independence Axiom," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(1), pages 163-169, January.
    5. Yaari, Menahem E, 1987. "The Dual Theory of Choice under Risk," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(1), pages 95-115, January.
    6. Paolo Ghirardato & Massimo Marinacci, 2001. "Risk, Ambiguity, and the Separation of Utility and Beliefs," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 864-890, November.
    7. Mohammed Abdellaoui, 2002. "A Genuine Rank-Dependent Generalization of the Von Neumann-Morgenstern Expected Utility Theorem," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(2), pages 717-736, March.
    8. Mao, Tiantian & Hu, Taizhong, 2012. "Characterization of left-monotone risk aversion in the RDEU model," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 413-422.
    9. Botond Kőszegi & Matthew Rabin, 2006. "A Model of Reference-Dependent Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(4), pages 1133-1165.
    10. Tversky, Amos & Kahneman, Daniel, 1992. "Advances in Prospect Theory: Cumulative Representation of Uncertainty," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 297-323, October.
    11. Hong, Chew Soo & Karni, Edi & Safra, Zvi, 1987. "Risk aversion in the theory of expected utility with rank dependent probabilities," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 370-381, August.
    12. Wang, Shaun, 1996. "Premium Calculation by Transforming the Layer Premium Density," ASTIN Bulletin, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 71-92, May.
    13. Alain Chateauneuf & Ghizlane Lakhnati, 2007. "From sure to strong diversification," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 32(3), pages 511-522, September.
    14. Quiggin, John, 1982. "A theory of anticipated utility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 323-343, December.
    15. Bommier, Antoine & Chassagnon, Arnold & Le Grand, François, 2012. "Comparative risk aversion: A formal approach with applications to saving behavior," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(4), pages 1614-1641.
    16. Denuit, Michel & Sznajder, Dominik & Trufin, Julien, 2019. "Model selection based on Lorenz and concentration curves, Gini indices and convex order," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 128-139.
    17. Sopher & Narramore, 2000. "Stochastic Choice and Consistency in Decision Making Under Risk: An Experimental Study," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 323-349, June.
    18. Antoine Bommier & Arnold Chassagnon & François Le Grand, 2012. "Comparative risk aversion: A formal approach with applications to saving behavior," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00754583, HAL.
    19. Gul, Faruk & Pesendorfer, Wolfgang, 2015. "Hurwicz expected utility and subjective sources," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 159(PA), pages 465-488.
    20. Tsanakas, Andreas, 2008. "Risk measurement in the presence of background risk," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 520-528, April.
    21. 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..
    22. Katarzyna M. Werner & Horst Zank, 2019. "A revealed reference point for prospect theory," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 67(4), pages 731-773, June.
    23. Drew Fudenberg & Ryota Iijima & Tomasz Strzalecki, 2015. "Stochastic Choice and Revealed Perturbed Utility," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2371-2409, November.
    24. Hong Chew Soo & Hui Mao Mei, 1995. "A Schur Concave Characterization of Risk Aversion for Non-expected Utility Preferences," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 402-435, December.
    25. Ettlin, Nicolas & Farkas, Walter & Kull, Andreas & Smirnow, Alexander, 2020. "Optimal risk-sharing across a network of insurance companies," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 39-47.
    26. Antoine Bommier & Arnold Chassagnon & François Le Grand, 2012. "Comparative risk aversion: A formal approach with applications to saving behavior," Post-Print halshs-00754583, HAL.
    27. Wakker, Peter P. & Yang, Jingni, 2019. "A powerful tool for analyzing concave/convex utility and weighting functions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 143-159.
    28. Viscusi, W Kip, 1989. "Prospective Reference Theory: Toward an Explanation of the Paradoxes," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 235-263, September.
    29. Marina Agranov & Pietro Ortoleva, 2017. "Stochastic Choice and Preferences for Randomization," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(1), pages 40-68.
    30. Liu, Fangda & Cai, Jun & Lemieux, Christiane & Wang, Ruodu, 2020. "Convex risk functionals: Representation and applications," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 66-79.
    31. Machina, Mark J, 1985. "Stochastic Choice Functions Generated from Deterministic Preferences over Lotteries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 95(379), pages 575-594, September.
    32. Goovaerts, Marc J. & Kaas, Rob & Laeven, Roger J.A., 2010. "A note on additive risk measures in rank-dependent utility," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 187-189, October.
    33. David E. Bell, 1985. "Disappointment in Decision Making Under Uncertainty," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(1), pages 1-27, February.
    34. Cornilly, D. & Rüschendorf, L. & Vanduffel, S., 2018. "Upper bounds for strictly concave distortion risk measures on moment spaces," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 141-151.
    35. Machina, Mark J & Schmeidler, David, 1992. "A More Robust Definition of Subjective Probability," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(4), pages 745-780, July.
    36. Simone Cerreia-Vioglio & David Dillenberger & Pietro Ortoleva & Gil Riella, 2019. "Deliberately Stochastic," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2425-2445, July.
      • Simone Cerreia-Vioglio & David Dillenberger & Pietro Ortoleva & Gil Riella, 2012. "Deliberately Stochastic," PIER Working Paper Archive 17-013, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 25 May 2017.
    37. Cheung, Ka Chun & Phillip Yam, Sheung Chi & Yuen, Fei Lung & Zhang, Yiying, 2020. "Concave distortion risk minimizing reinsurance design under adverse selection," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 155-165.
    38. Ghossoub, Mario, 2019. "Optimal insurance under rank-dependent expected utility," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 51-66.
    39. Belles-Sampera, Jaume & Guillen, Montserrat & Santolino, Miguel, 2016. "What attitudes to risk underlie distortion risk measure choices?," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 101-109.
    40. Fabio Bellini & Pablo Koch-Medina & Cosimo Munari & Gregor Svindland, 2020. "Law-invariant functionals that collapse to the mean," Papers 2009.04144, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2021.
    41. Kota Saito, 2015. "Preferences for Flexibility and Randomization under Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(3), pages 1246-1271, March.
    42. Yusufcan Masatlioglu & Collin Raymond, 2016. "A Behavioral Analysis of Stochastic Reference Dependence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2760-2782, September.
    43. Barry Sopher & Mattison Narramore, 2000. "Stochastic Choice and Consistency in Decision Making Under Uncertainty: An Experimental Study," Departmental Working Papers 199626, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
    44. Mohammed Abdellaoui & Peter Wakker, 2005. "The Likelihood Method for Decision under Uncertainty," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 3-76, February.
    45. Udo Ebert, 2004. "Social welfare, inequality, and poverty when needs differ," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 23(3), pages 415-448, December.
    46. Nicolas Ettlin & Walter Farkas & Andreas Kull & Alexander Smirnow, 2020. "Optimal Risk-Sharing Across a Network of Insurance Companies," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 20-52, Swiss Finance Institute.
    47. Boonen, Tim J. & Ghossoub, Mario, 2021. "Optimal reinsurance with multiple reinsurers: Distortion risk measures, distortion premium principles, and heterogeneous beliefs," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(PA), pages 23-37.
    48. Philippe Artzner & Freddy Delbaen & Jean‐Marc Eber & David Heath, 1999. "Coherent Measures of Risk," Mathematical Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 203-228, July.
    49. Goovaerts, Marc J. & Kaas, Rob & Laeven, Roger J.A., 2010. "Decision principles derived from risk measures," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 294-302, December.
    50. Denuit, Michel & Sznajder, Dominik & Trufin, Julien, 2019. "Model selection based on Lorenz and concentration curves, Gini indices and convex order," LIDAM Discussion Papers ISBA 2019006, Université catholique de Louvain, Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA).
    51. Veronika Köbberling & Peter P. Wakker, 2003. "Preference Foundations for Nonexpected Utility: A Generalized and Simplified Technique," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 395-423, August.
    52. Jevons, William Stanley, 1871. "The Theory of Political Economy," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number jevons1871.
    53. Denuit, Michel & Sznajder, Dominik & Trufin, Julien, 2019. "Model selection based on Lorenz and concentration curves, Gini indices and convex order," LIDAM Reprints ISBA 2019046, Université catholique de Louvain, Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA).
    54. Antoine Bommier & Arnold Chassagnon & François Le Grand, 2012. "Comparative risk aversion : A formal approach with applications to saving behavior," Post-Print hal-02312602, HAL.
    55. Ghossoub, Mario & He, Xue Dong, 2021. "Comparative risk aversion in RDEU with applications to optimal underwriting of securities issuance," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(PA), pages 6-22.
    56. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4434 is not listed on IDEAS
    57. Graham Loomes & Robert Sugden, 1986. "Disappointment and Dynamic Consistency in Choice under Uncertainty," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 53(2), pages 271-282.
    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. Giulio Principi & Peter P. Wakker & Ruodu Wang, 2023. "Antimonotonicity for Preference Axioms: The Natural Counterpart to Comonotonicity," Papers 2307.08542, arXiv.org.
    2. Felix-Benedikt Liebrich & Cosimo Munari, 2022. "Law-Invariant Functionals that Collapse to the Mean: Beyond Convexity," Mathematics and Financial Economics, Springer, volume 16, number 2, June.
    3. Aniruddha Ghosh & M. Ali Khan & Metin Uyanık, 2023. "Continuity postulates and solvability axioms in economic theory and in mathematical psychology: a consolidation of the theory of individual choice," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 189-210, February.
    4. Ruodu Wang & Qinyu Wu, 2022. "Quasi-convexity in mixtures for generalized rank-dependent functions," Papers 2209.03425, arXiv.org.

    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. Wakker, Peter P. & Yang, Jingni, 2019. "A powerful tool for analyzing concave/convex utility and weighting functions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 143-159.
    2. Mark Dean & Pietro Ortoleva, 2012. "Allais, Ellsberg, and Preferences for Hedging," Working Papers 2012-2, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    3. Jean Baccelli, 2018. "Risk attitudes in axiomatic decision theory: a conceptual perspective," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 61-82, January.
    4. Dean, Mark & Ortoleva, Pietro, 2017. "Allais, Ellsberg, and preferences for hedging," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(1), January.
    5. Mohammed Abdellaoui & Horst Zank, 2023. "Source and rank-dependent utility," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 75(4), pages 949-981, May.
    6. Matthew D. Rablen, 2023. "Loss Aversion, Risk Aversion, and the Shape of the Probability Weighting Function," Working Papers 2023013, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    7. Jean Baccelli & Georg Schollmeyer & Christoph Jansen, 2022. "Risk aversion over finite domains," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 93(2), pages 371-397, September.
    8. Chew, Soo Hong & Miao, Bin & Shen, Qiang & Zhong, Songfa, 2022. "Multiple-switching behavior in choice-list elicitation of risk preference," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    9. Ulrich Schmidt & Horst Zank, 2012. "A genuine foundation for prospect theory," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 97-113, October.
    10. Rablen, Matthew D., 2019. "Foundations of the Rank-Dependent Probability Weighting Function," IZA Discussion Papers 12701, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Belles-Sampera, Jaume & Merigó, José M. & Guillén, Montserrat & Santolino, Miguel, 2013. "The connection between distortion risk measures and ordered weighted averaging operators," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 411-420.
    12. Katarzyna M. Werner & Horst Zank, 2019. "A revealed reference point for prospect theory," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 67(4), pages 731-773, June.
    13. Mohammed Abdellaoui & Olivier L’Haridon & Horst Zank, 2010. "Separating curvature and elevation: A parametric probability weighting function," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 39-65, August.
    14. Epper, Thomas & Fehr-Duda, Helga, 2017. "A Tale of Two Tails: On the Coexistence of Overweighting and Underweighting of Rare Extreme Events," Economics Working Paper Series 1705, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    15. Corina Birghila & Tim J. Boonen & Mario Ghossoub, 2023. "Optimal insurance under maxmin expected utility," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 467-501, April.
    16. Albrecht, Peter & Huggenberger, Markus, 2017. "The fundamental theorem of mutual insurance," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 180-188.
    17. repec:cup:judgdm:v:16:y:2021:i:6:p:1324-1369 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Wei Ma, 2023. "Random dual expected utility," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 75(2), pages 293-315, February.
    19. Roy Allen & John Rehbeck, 2021. "A Generalization of Quantal Response Equilibrium via Perturbed Utility," Games, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, March.
    20. Aurélien Baillon & Han Bleichrodt & Vitalie Spinu, 2020. "Searching for the Reference Point," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 93-112, January.
    21. Dillenberger, David & Segal, Uzi, 2017. "Skewed noise," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 344-364.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Convex preferences; Quasiconcave utility; Risk aversion; Rank-dependent utility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • C60 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:insuma:v:100:y:2021:i:c:p:429-435. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505554 .

    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.