Risk aversion, moral hazard, and the principal's loss

B-Tier
Journal: Economic Theory
Year: 2002
Volume: 20
Issue: 3
Pages: 637-644

Authors (2)

Hector Chade (Arizona State University) Virginia N. Vera de Serio (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.009 = (α=2.02 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

In their seminal paper on the principal-agent model with moral hazard, Grossman and Hart (1983) show that if the agent's utility function is $U(I,a)=-e^{-k(I-a)}$, then the loss to the principal from being unable to observe the agent's action is increasing in the agent's degree of absolute risk aversion. Their proof is restricted to the case where the number of observable outcomes is equal to two, and it uses an argument that is specific to that case. In this note, we provide an alternative proof that generalizes their result to any (finite) number of outcomes.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:spr:joecth:v:20:y:2002:i:3:p:637-644
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25