Consistent Assessment Procedures Using Conditional Utility Functions

David E. Bell
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David E. Bell: Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts

Operations Research, 1979, vol. 27, issue 5, 1054-1066

Abstract: We consider the assessment of two-attribute von Neumann-Morgenstern utility functions. The use of conditional utility functions is suggested and motivated. We derive a new independence relation between attributes that decomposes the utility function into four single-attribute utility functions. This independence condition is weaker than but may be specialized to utility independence. We examine the class of utility functions that may be assessed by use of conditional utility functions without danger of inconsistencies and derive a decomposition that is a simple generalization of joint utility independence. Implications for group utility functions are considered.

Date: 1979
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