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Expected utility and catastrophic consumption risk

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  • Ikefuji, Masako
  • Laeven, Roger J.A.
  • Magnus, Jan R.
  • Muris, Chris

Abstract

An expected utility based cost-benefit analysis is, in general, fragile to distributional assumptions. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions on the utility function of consumption in the expected utility model to avoid this. The conditions ensure that expected (marginal) utility of consumption and the expected intertemporal marginal rate of substitution that trades off consumption and self-insurance remain finite, also under heavy-tailed distributional assumptions. Our results are relevant to various fields encountering catastrophic consumption risk in cost-benefit analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Ikefuji, Masako & Laeven, Roger J.A. & Magnus, Jan R. & Muris, Chris, 2015. "Expected utility and catastrophic consumption risk," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 306-312.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:insuma:v:64:y:2015:i:c:p:306-312
    DOI: 10.1016/j.insmatheco.2015.06.007
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    Cited by:

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    3. Alexis Louaas and Pierre Picard, 2022. "Optimal Nuclear Liability Insurance," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
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    5. Ikefuji, Masako & Laeven, Roger J.A. & Magnus, Jan R. & Muris, Chris, 2020. "Expected utility and catastrophic risk in a stochastic economy–climate model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 214(1), pages 110-129.
    6. Menna Hassan & Nourhan Sakr & Arthur Charpentier, 2022. "Government Intervention in Catastrophe Insurance Markets: A Reinforcement Learning Approach," Papers 2207.01010, arXiv.org.
    7. Andrea Rampa, 2020. "Climate change, catastrophes and Dismal Theorem: a critical review [Klimawandel, Katastrophen und das „Dismal Theorem“: eine kritische Überprüfung]," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 40(2), pages 113-136, October.
    8. Clark, Beth & Stewart, Gavin B. & Panzone, Luca A. & Kyriazakis, Ilias & Frewer, Lynn J., 2017. "Citizens, consumers and farm animal welfare: A meta-analysis of willingness-to-pay studies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 112-127.
    9. Strulik, Holger, 2019. "I shouldn’t eat this donut: Self-control, body weight, and health in a life cycle model," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Expected utility; Catastrophe; Consumption; Cost-benefit analysis; Risk management and self-insurance; Power utility; Exponential utility; Heavy tails;
    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
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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