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Who should exert more effort? Risk aversion, downside risk aversion and optimal prevention

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  • Richard Peter

    (University of Iowa)

Abstract

I provide new results on how risk preferences affect optimal prevention. I identify a comparative risk aversion and a comparative downside risk aversion effect and highlight those cases where both effects are aligned. Alignment depends on a probability threshold, which, in turn, only depends on the preferences of the benchmark agent. This allows to define an entire class of decision-makers who all share the same comparative static prediction relative to the reference agent. I relate my findings to different intensity measures of downside risk aversion and apply them to parametric preference changes and specific classes of utility functions.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Peter, 2021. "Who should exert more effort? Risk aversion, downside risk aversion and optimal prevention," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(4), pages 1259-1281, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:71:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s00199-020-01282-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s00199-020-01282-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Tobias Huber, 2022. "Comparative risk aversion in two periods: An application to self‐insurance and self‐protection," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 89(1), pages 97-130, March.
    2. Hun Seog, S. & Hong, Jimin, 2022. "Market insurance and endogenous saving with multiple loss states," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Emmanuelle Augeraud-Véron & Marc Leandri, 2023. "Optimal self-protection and health risk perception: bridging the gap between risk theory and the Health Belief Model," EconomiX Working Papers 2023-12, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    4. Peter, Richard, 2021. "Prevention as a Giffen good," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    5. Christophe Courbage & Richard Peter, 2021. "On the effect of uncertainty on personal vaccination decisions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(11), pages 2937-2942, November.
    6. Han Bleichrodt, 2022. "The prevention puzzle," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 47(2), pages 277-297, September.
    7. Kalwij, Adriaan, 2023. "Risk preferences, preventive behaviour, and the probability of a loss: Empirical evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk aversion; Downside risk aversion; Prevention; Self-protection;
    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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