This paper explores whether there is one unifying concept of utility, as commonly assumed in applied and empirical economics, or whether utility is context-specific, as typically assumed in economic theory. We present a new method to measure the utility for gains, the utility for losses, and loss aversion both for risk and for time. Utility under risk was significantly more curved than utility ...

Within the expected-utility framework, the only explanation for risk aversion is that the utility function for wealth is concave: A person has lower marginal utility for additional wealth when she is wealthy than when she is poor. This paper provides a theorem showing that expected-utility theory is an utterly implausible explanation for appreciable risk aversion over modest stakes: Within expe...

Using subjective well-being data for more than 91,000 individuals in 30 OECD countries, 1990-2008, we study how people’s implicit aversion towards inflation varies with income and other socio-economic characteristics. While inflation aversion decreases with income, it increases with the education level. Contrary to previous findings using statedpreference methods, these relationships apply not ...

The paper discusses criteria for comparing risk aversion of decision makers when outcomes are multidimensional. A weak concept, ”commodity specific greater risk aversion”, is based on the comparison of risk premia paid in a specified commodity. A stronger concept, ”uniformly greater risk aversion” is based on the comparison of risk premia regardless of what commodities are used for payment. Nei...

In this paper, ambiguity aversion to uncertain survival probabilities is introduced in a life-cycle model with a bequest motive to study the optimal demand for annuities. Provided that annuities return is sufficiently large, and notably when it is fair, positive annuitization is optimal in the ambiguity neutrality limit case. Conversely, the optimal strategy is to sell annuities in case of infi...

This paper presents a context-dependent theory of decision under risk. The relevant contextual factor is the presence of a riskless lottery in a preference comparison. The theory only deviates from expected utility if the set of options contains both riskless and risky lotteries. The main motivation for the theory is to explain the gambling effect. Contrary to previous theories of the gambling ...

Intertemporal correlation aversion is an intuitive concept indicating whether an individual prefers lotteries concerning consumption at different moments in time to be positively or negatively correlated. I show that the difference between the coefficient of relative risk aversion and the inverse of the intertemporal elasticity of substitution is related, in a simple way, to the index of intert...

This study provides additional information on the psychometric properties of the Sexual Aversion Scale (SAS). Results suggest a positive relationship between sexual aversion, generalized anxiety, and history of sexual victimization. Variables such as age and religiosity were unrelated to scores on the SAS, although females reported significantly more sexual anxiety than males. The factor struct...

We estimate the distribution of risk preferences using a large data set of deductible choices in auto insurance contracts. To do so, we develop a structural econometric model of adverse selection that allows for unobserved heterogeneity in both risk (claim rate) and risk aversion. We use data on realized claims to estimate the distribution of claim rates and data on deductible and premium choic...