Comparing Risks by Acceptance and Rejection

Sergiu Hart

Discussion Paper Series from The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Abstract: Stochastic dominance is a partial order on risky assets (gambles) that is based on the uniform preference, of all decision-makers (in an appropriate class), for one gamble over another. We modify this, first, by taking into account the status quo (given by the current wealth) and the possibility of rejecting gambles, and second, by comparing rejections that are substantive (that is, uniform over wealth levels or over utilities). This yields two new stochastic orders: wealth-uniform dominance and utility-uniform dominance. Unlike stochastic dominance, these two orders are complete: any two gambles can be compared. Moreover, they are equivalent to the orders induced by, respectively, the Aumann-Serrano (2008) index of riskiness and the Foster-Hart (2009a) measure of riskiness.

Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2010-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gth, nep-mic and nep-upt
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published in Journal of Political Economy 119 (2011), 4, 617-638

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Journal Article: Comparing Risks by Acceptance and Rejection (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:huj:dispap:dp531

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