Weber’s law and the biological evolution of risk preferences: The selective dominance of the logarithmic utility function, 2002 Geneva risk lecture

Hans-Werner Sinn

Munich Reprints in Economics from University of Munich, Department of Economics

Abstract: The paper offers a proof that expected utility maximisation with logarithmic utility is a dominant preference in the biological selection process in the sense that a population following any other preference for decision-making under risk will, with a probability that approaches certainty, disappear relative to the population following this preference as time goes to infinity. The result is contrasted with Weber’s and Fechner’s Psychophysical Law which implies logarithmic sensation functions for objective physical stimuli.

Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Published in GENEVA Papers on Risk and Insurance Theory 2 28(2003): pp. 87-100

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
Journal Article: Weber's Law and the Biological Evolution of Risk Preferences: The Selective Dominance of the Logarithmic Utility Function, 2002 Geneva Risk Lecture (2003)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lmu:muenar:19612

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Munich Reprints in Economics from University of Munich, Department of Economics Ludwigstr. 28, 80539 Munich, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tamilla Benkelberg ().