Decision making for others: The case of loss aversion

Sascha Füllbrunn () and Wolfgang Luhan

Economics Letters, 2017, vol. 161, issue C, 154-156

Abstract: Risky decisions are at the core of economic theory. While many of these decisions are taken on behalf of others rather than for oneself, the existing literature finds mixed results on whether people take more or less risk for others then for themselves. Recent studies suggest that taking decisions for others reduces loss aversion, thereby increasing risk taking on behalf of others. To test this, we elicit loss aversion in three treatments: making risky decisions for oneself, for one other subject, or for the decision maker and another person combined. We find a clear treatment effect when making decisions for others but not when making decisions for both.

Keywords: Decision making for others; Risk taking; Loss aversion; Experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C9 D3 D8 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:161:y:2017:i:c:p:154-156

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2017.09.037

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