IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jetheo/v200y2022ics0022053122000035.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Existence and uniqueness of recursive utilities without boundedness

Author

Listed:
  • Christensen, Timothy M.

Abstract

This paper derives primitive, easily verifiable sufficient conditions for existence and uniqueness of (stochastic) recursive utilities for several important classes of preferences. In order to accommodate models commonly used in practice, we allow both the state space and per-period utilities to be unbounded. For many of the models we study, existence and uniqueness is established under a single, primitive “thin tail” condition on the distribution of growth in per-period utilities. We present several applications to robust preferences, models of ambiguity aversion and learning about hidden states, and Epstein–Zin preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Christensen, Timothy M., 2022. "Existence and uniqueness of recursive utilities without boundedness," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:200:y:2022:i:c:s0022053122000035
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2022.105413
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022053122000035
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jet.2022.105413?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. Fabrice Collard & Sujoy Mukerji & Kevin Sheppard & Jean‐Marc Tallon, 2018. "Ambiguity and the historical equity premium," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(2), pages 945-993, July.
    2. Le Van, Cuong & Vailakis, Yiannis, 2005. "Recursive utility and optimal growth with bounded or unbounded returns," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 187-209, August.
    3. Klibanoff, Peter & Marinacci, Massimo & Mukerji, Sujoy, 2009. "Recursive smooth ambiguity preferences," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 930-976, May.
    4. Lars Peter Hansen & Thomas J Sargent, 2014. "Robust Control and Model Misspecification," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: UNCERTAINTY WITHIN ECONOMIC MODELS, chapter 6, pages 155-216, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Lars Peter Hansen & Thomas J Sargent, 2014. "Doubts or Variability?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: UNCERTAINTY WITHIN ECONOMIC MODELS, chapter 7, pages 217-256, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Mariano M. Croce & Martin Lettau & Sydney C. Ludvigson, 2015. "Investor Information, Long-Run Risk, and the Term Structure of Equity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(3), pages 706-742.
    7. David Backus & Mikhail Chernov & Stanley Zin, 2014. "Sources of Entropy in Representative Agent Models," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 51-99, February.
    8. Lars Peter Hansen & Thomas J Sargent, 2014. "Fragile Beliefs and the Price of Uncertainty," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: UNCERTAINTY WITHIN ECONOMIC MODELS, chapter 9, pages 293-330, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Lars Peter Hansen & John C. Heaton & Nan Li, 2008. "Consumption Strikes Back? Measuring Long-Run Risk," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(2), pages 260-302, April.
    10. Timothy M. Christensen, 2017. "Nonparametric Stochastic Discount Factor Decomposition," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85, pages 1501-1536, September.
    11. Lars Peter Hansen & José A. Scheinkman, 2009. "Long-Term Risk: An Operator Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(1), pages 177-234, January.
    12. Larry G. Epstein & Stanley E. Zin, 2013. "Substitution, risk aversion and the temporal behavior of consumption and asset returns: A theoretical framework," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 12, pages 207-239, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    13. Nengjiu Ju & Jianjun Miao, 2012. "Ambiguity, Learning, and Asset Returns," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(2), pages 559-591, March.
    14. Pierre Collin-Dufresne & Michael Johannes & Lars A. Lochstoer, 2016. "Parameter Learning in General Equilibrium: The Asset Pricing Implications," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(3), pages 664-698, March.
    15. Ravi Bansal & Dana Kiku & Ivan Shaliastovich & Amir Yaron, 2014. "Volatility, the Macroeconomy, and Asset Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(6), pages 2471-2511, December.
    16. Bloise, Gaetano & Vailakis, Yiannis, 2018. "Convex dynamic programming with (bounded) recursive utility," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 118-141.
    17. Łukasz Balbus, 2020. "On recursive utilities with non-affine aggregator and conditional certainty equivalent," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 70(2), pages 551-577, September.
    18. Jaroslav Borovička & John Stachurski, 2020. "Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Existence and Uniqueness of Recursive Utilities," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1457-1493, June.
    19. Fernando Alvarez & Urban J. Jermann, 2005. "Using Asset Prices to Measure the Persistence of the Marginal Utility of Wealth," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(6), pages 1977-2016, November.
    20. Hamilton, James D, 1989. "A New Approach to the Economic Analysis of Nonstationary Time Series and the Business Cycle," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(2), pages 357-384, March.
    21. Hansen, Lars Peter & Sargent, Thomas J., 2007. "Recursive robust estimation and control without commitment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 1-27, September.
    22. Christensen, Timothy M., 2015. "Nonparametric Identification Of Positive Eigenfunctions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(6), pages 1310-1330, December.
    23. Andrew Ang & Allan Timmermann, 2012. "Regime Changes and Financial Markets," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 313-337, October.
    24. Cecchetti, Stephen G & Lam, Pok-sang & Mark, Nelson C, 1990. "Mean Reversion in Equilibrium Asset Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 398-418, June.
    25. Pok-sang Lam & Stephen G. Cecchetti & Nelson C. Mark, 2000. "Asset Pricing with Distorted Beliefs: Are Equity Returns Too Good to Be True?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 787-805, September.
    26. Marinacci, Massimo & Montrucchio, Luigi, 2010. "Unique solutions for stochastic recursive utilities," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 145(5), pages 1776-1804, September.
    27. Bidder, R.M. & Smith, M.E., 2018. "Doubts and variability: A robust perspective on exotic consumption series," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 689-712.
    28. Lars Peter Hansen & Thomas J Sargent, 2014. "Robust Control and Model Uncertainty," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: UNCERTAINTY WITHIN ECONOMIC MODELS, chapter 5, pages 145-154, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    29. Hindy, Ayman & Huang, Chi-fu & Kreps, David, 1992. "On intertemporal preferences in continuous time : The case of certainty," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 401-440.
    30. Timothy Christensen, 2014. "Nonparametric Stochastic Discount Factor Decomposition," Papers 1412.4428, arXiv.org, revised May 2017.
    31. Jessica A. Wachter, 2013. "Can Time-Varying Risk of Rare Disasters Explain Aggregate Stock Market Volatility?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(3), pages 987-1035, June.
    32. Lars Peter Hansen & Jose A. Scheinkman, 2012. "Recursive utility in a Markov environment with stochastic growth," Working Papers 1380, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Econometric Research Program..
    33. Frank Schorfheide & Dongho Song & Amir Yaron, 2018. "Identifying Long‐Run Risks: A Bayesian Mixed‐Frequency Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 86(2), pages 617-654, March.
    34. Ravi Bansal & Amir Yaron, 2004. "Risks for the Long Run: A Potential Resolution of Asset Pricing Puzzles," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1481-1509, August.
    35. Boud, John III, 1990. "Recursive utility and the Ramsey problem," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 326-345, April.
    36. Hindy, Ayman & Huang, Chi-fu, 1992. "Intertemporal Preferences for Uncertain Consumption: A Continuous Time Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(4), pages 781-801, July.
    37. Cuong Le Van & Yiannis Vailakis, 2005. "Recursive utility and optimal growth with bounded or unbounded returns," Post-Print halshs-00101201, HAL.
    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. Thomas J. Sargent & John Stachurski, 2024. "Dynamic Programming: Finite States," Papers 2401.10473, arXiv.org.
    2. Gaetano Bloise & Cuong Le Van & Yiannis Vailakis, 2024. "Do not Blame Bellman: It Is Koopmans' Fault," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(1), pages 111-140, January.

    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. Timothy M. Christensen, 2020. "Existence and uniqueness of recursive utilities without boundedness," Papers 2008.00963, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2021.
    2. Jaroslav Borovička & John Stachurski, 2020. "Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Existence and Uniqueness of Recursive Utilities," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1457-1493, June.
    3. Thomas J. Sargent & John Stachurski, 2024. "Dynamic Programming: Finite States," Papers 2401.10473, arXiv.org.
    4. Nengjiu Ju & Jianjun Miao, 2012. "Ambiguity, Learning, and Asset Returns," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(2), pages 559-591, March.
    5. Guanlong Ren & John Stachurski, 2018. "Dynamic Programming with Recursive Preferences: Optimality and Applications," Papers 1812.05748, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2020.
    6. Bidder, R.M. & Smith, M.E., 2018. "Doubts and variability: A robust perspective on exotic consumption series," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 689-712.
    7. Dalderop, Jeroen, 2023. "Semiparametric estimation of latent variable asset pricing models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 236(1).
    8. Hansen, Lars Peter, 2013. "Uncertainty Outside and Inside Economic Models," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2013-7, Nobel Prize Committee.
    9. Borovička, Jaroslav & Hansen, Lars Peter, 2014. "Examining macroeconomic models through the lens of asset pricing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(1), pages 67-90.
    10. Backus, David & Ferriere, Axelle & Zin, Stanley, 2015. "Risk and ambiguity in models of business cycles," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 42-63.
    11. Jianjun Miao & Bin Wei & Hao Zhou, 2019. "Ambiguity Aversion and the Variance Premium," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(02), pages 1-36, June.
    12. Borovička, Jaroslav & Stachurski, John, 2021. "Stability of equilibrium asset pricing models: A necessary and sufficient condition," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    13. Hansen, Lars Peter & Sargent, Thomas J., 2011. "Robustness and ambiguity in continuous time," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 146(3), pages 1195-1223, May.
    14. Zhang, Jian & Kong, Dongmin & Liu, Hening & Wu, Ji, 2019. "Asset pricing with time varying pessimism and rare disasters," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 165-175.
    15. Matthijs Breugem & Stefano Colonello & Roberto Marfè & Francesca Zucchi, 2020. "Dynamic Equity Slope," Working Papers 2020:21, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    16. Max Gillman & Michal Kejak & Michal Pakoš, 2015. "Learning about Rare Disasters: Implications For Consumption and Asset Prices," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 19(3), pages 1053-1104.
    17. Szőke, Bálint, 2022. "Estimating robustness," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    18. Hansen, Lars Peter, 2013. "Risk Pricing over Alternative Investment Horizons," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1571-1611, Elsevier.
    19. Hengjie Ai & Ravi Bansal, 2016. "Risk Preferences and The Macro Announcement Premium," NBER Working Papers 22527, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Borovička, Jaroslav & Hansen, Lars Peter, 2014. "Examining macroeconomic models through the lens of asset pricing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(1), pages 67-90.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Stochastic recursive utility; Ambiguity; Model uncertainty; Existence; Uniqueness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C62 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Existence and Stability Conditions of Equilibrium
    • C65 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Miscellaneous Mathematical Tools
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • E7 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)

    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:jetheo:v:200:y:2022:i:c:s0022053122000035. 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/622869 .

    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.