The impossibility of compromise: some uniqueness properties of expected utility preferences

B-Tier
Journal: Economic Theory
Year: 2000
Volume: 16
Issue: 2
Pages: 245-258

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

We focus on the following uniqueness property of expected utility preferences: Agreement of two preferences on one interior indifference class implies their equality. We show that, besides expected utility preferences under (objective) risk, this uniqueness property holds for subjective expected utility preferences in Anscombe-Aumann's (partially subjective) and Savage's (fully subjective) settings, while it does not hold for subjective expected utility preferences in settings without rich state spaces. Indeed, when it holds the uniqueness property is even stronger than described above, as it needs only agreement on binary acts. The extension of the uniqueness property to the subjective case is possible because beliefs in the mentioned settings are shown to satisfy an analogous property: If two decision makers agree on a likelihood indifference class, they must have identical beliefs.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:spr:joecth:v:16:y:2000:i:2:p:245-258
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25