Dynamic consumption and portfolio choice under prospect theory

Servaas van Bilsen and Roger Laeven

Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 2020, vol. 91, issue C, 224-237

Abstract: This paper explicitly derives the optimal dynamic consumption and portfolio choice of an individual with prospect theory preferences. The individual is loss averse, endogenously updates his reference level over time, and distorts probabilities. We show that the optimal consumption strategy is rather insensitive to economic shocks. In particular, in case the individual sufficiently overweights unlikely unfavorable events, our model generates an endogenous floor on consumption. As a result, an individual with prospect theory preferences typically implements a (very) conservative portfolio strategy. We discuss implications of our results for the design of investment-linked annuity products.

Keywords: Loss aversion; Endogenous reference level; Optimal consumption choice; Optimal portfolio choice; Probability weighting; Optimal annuity design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 D91 G02 G11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:insuma:v:91:y:2020:i:c:p:224-237

DOI: 10.1016/j.insmatheco.2020.02.004

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