Utility functions for wealth

Citation
De. Bell et Pc. Fishburn, Utility functions for wealth, J RISK UNC, 20(1), 2000, pp. 5-44
Citations number
41
Categorie Soggetti
Economics
Journal title
JOURNAL OF RISK AND UNCERTAINTY
ISSN journal
08955646 → ACNP
Volume
20
Issue
1
Year of publication
2000
Pages
5 - 44
Database
ISI
SICI code
0895-5646(200001)20:1<5:UFFW>2.0.ZU;2-Y
Abstract
We specify all utility functions on wealth implied by four special conditio ns on preferences between risky prospects in four theories of utility, unde r the presumption that preference increases in wealth. The theories are von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility (EU), rank dependent utility (RDU), w eighted linear utility (WLU), and skew-symmetric bilinear utility (SSBU). T he special conditions are a weak version of risk neutrality, Pfanzagl's con sistency axiom, Bell's one-switch condition, and a contextual uncertainty c ondition. Previous research has identified the functional forms for utility of wealth for all four conditions under EU, and for risk neutrality and Pf anzagl's consistency axiom under WLU and SSBU. The functional forms for the other condition-theory combinations are derived in this paper.