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You Only Die Once: Managing Discrete Interdependent Risks

Geoffrey Heal and Howard Kunreuther

No 9885, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper extends our earlier analysis of interdependent security issues to a general class of problems involving discrete interdependent risks with heterogeneous agents. There is a threat of an event that can only happen once, and the risk depends on actions taken by others. Any agent's incentive to invest in managing the risk depends on the actions of others. Security problems at airlines and in computer networks come into this category, as do problems of risk management in organizations facing the possibility of bankruptcy, and individuals' choices about whether to be vaccinated against an infectious disease. Surprisingly the framework also covers certain aspects of investment in R&D. Here we characterize Nash equilibria with heterogeneous agents and give conditions for tipping and cascading of equilibria.

JEL-codes: C72 D80 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-08
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published as Richardson, H.W., P. Gordon and J.E. Moore II (eds.) The Economic Impacts of Terrorist Attacks. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2005.

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