Approximate Expected Utility Rationalization

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of the European Economic Association
Year: 2023
Volume: 21
Issue: 5
Pages: 1821-1864

Authors (3)

Federico Echenique (University of California-Berke...) Taisuke Imai (not in RePEc) Kota Saito (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

We propose a new measure of deviations from expected utility theory. For any positive number e, we give a characterization of the datasets with a rationalization that is within e (in beliefs, utility, or perceived prices) of expected utility (EU) theory, under the assumption of risk aversion. The number e can then be used as a measure of how far the data is to EU theory. We apply our methodology to data from three large-scale experiments. Many subjects in these experiments are consistent with utility maximization, but not with EU maximization. Our measure of distance to expected utility is correlated with the subjects’ demographic characteristics.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:jeurec:v:21:y:2023:i:5:p:1821-1864.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25