An Endowment Effect for Risk: Experimental Tests of Stochastic Reference Points

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2015
Volume: 123
Issue: 6
Pages: 1456 - 1499

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Recent models of reference-dependent preferences indicate that expectations may play a prominent role in the presence of behavioral anomalies. A subset of such expectations-based models predicts an "endowment effect for risk": that risk attitudes differ when reference points change from certain to stochastic. In two purposefully simple risk preference experiments, eliminating often-discussed confounds, I demonstrate both between and within subjects such an endowment effect for risk. These results provide needed separation between expectations-based reference-dependent models, allow for evaluation of recent theoretical extensions, and may help to close a long-standing debate in decision science on inconsistency between utility elicitation methodologies.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/683836
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29