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Who Really Wants to be a Millionaire? Estimates of Risk Aversion from Gameshow Data

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Author Info
Gauthier Lanot () (Keele University, Centre for Economic Research and School of Economic and Management Studies)
Roger Hartley (Department of Economics, University of Manchester)
Ian Walker () (Department of Economics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This paper analyses the behaviour of TV gameshow contestants to estimate risk aversion. We are able to show that the gameshow participants are broadly representative of the population as a whole. The gameshow has a number of features that makes it well suited for our analysis: the format is extremely straightforward, it involves no strategic decision-making, we have a large number of observations, and the prizes are cash and paid immediately, and cover a large range - from £100 up to £1 million. Even though the CRRA model is extremely restrictive we find that a coefficient or relative risk aversion which is close to unity fits the data across a wide range of wealth remarkably well.

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File URL: http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ec/wpapers/kerp0607.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Centre for Economic Research, Keele University in its series Keele Economics Research Papers with number KERP 2006/07.

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Length: 53 pages
Date of creation: Apr 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:kee:kerpuk:2006/07

Note: We are grateful to Celador PLC, the gameshow's creator and the UK production company, for their help with gathering the data, and their permission to use it. We are particularly grateful to Ruth Settle who provided detailed advice that helped our understanding of the game. The research was supported by grant R000239740 from the Economic and Social Research Council. However, the views expressed herein are those of the authors alone. The data used in the analysis, and the GAUSS programs developed to conduct the estimation, can be obtained from g.lanot@econ.keele.ac.uk.
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Postal: Department of Economics, University of Keele, Keele, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG - United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0)1782 584581
Fax: +44 (0)1782 717577
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Web page: http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ec/cer/
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Postal: Centre for Economic Research, Research Institute for Public Policy and Management, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5BG - United Kingdom
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Web: http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ec/cer/pubs_kerps.htm

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Related research
Keywords: Risk aversion gameshow

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

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  8. Donkers, Bas & Melenberg, Bertrand & Van Soest, Arthur, 2001. " Estimating Risk Attitudes Using Lotteries: A Large Sample Approach," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 165-95, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Greg Hannsgen, 2007. "Are the Costs of the Business Cycle 'Trivially Small'?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_492, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  2. Richard Layard & Guy Mayraz & Stephen Nickell, 2007. "The Marginal Utility of Income," CEP Discussion Papers dp0784, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Michele Belot, & V. Bhaskar & Jeroen van de Ven, 2006. "A Public Dilemma: Cooperation with Large Stakes and a Large Audience," Economics Discussion Papers 617, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Jungmin Lee & Cary Deck & Javier Reyes & Chris Rosen, 2008. "Measuring Risk Attitudes Controlling for Personality Traits," Working Papers 0801, Florida International University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Fabrizio Botti & Anna Conte & Daniela T. Di Cagno & Carlo D'Ippoliti, . "Risk attitude in real decision proBLEMs," Quaderni DPTEA 144, Department of Economic and Business Sciences, LUISS Guido Carli. [Downloadable!]
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