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Conditions on Risk Attitude for a Single Attribute

Charles M. Harvey

Management Science · 1981 · Volume 27 · Issue 2

DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.27.2.190

Abstract

For a decision problem having consequences described by a single attribute, the task of determining a utility function can be facilitated by verifying that the decision maker's risk attitude satisfies a condition such as constant risk aversion. We investigate a general class of conditions on risk attitude, and show that a utility function for such a condition may exist only when the condition is of a special type. Next, we discuss and interpret conditions of this special type. Then, we define two conditions which imply that the decision maker's risk attitude satisfies a condition of this type and is represented by a generalized logarithmic utility function or a linear fractional utility function.

Keywords

utility/preference: theory

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