Abstract
In searching for an appropriate utility function in the expected utility framework, we formulate four properties that we want the utility function to satisfy. We conduct a search for such a function, and we identify Pareto utility as a function satisfying all four desired properties. Pareto utility is a flexible yet simple and parsimonious two-parameter family. It exhibits decreasing absolute risk aversion and increasing but bounded relative risk aversion. It is applicable irrespective of the probability distribution relevant to the prospect to be evaluated. Pareto utility is therefore particularly suited for catastrophic risk analysis. A new and related class of generalized exponential (gexpo) utility functions is also studied. This class is particularly relevant in situations where absolute risk tolerance is thought to be concave rather than linear.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Sjak Smulders and Peter Wakker for helpful discussions, and to the referee for constructive comments. This research was funded in part by the JSPS under grant C-22530177 (Ikefuji) and by the NWO under grant Vidi-2009 (Laeven). An earlier version of this article was circulated under the title ‘Burr utility’.
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Ikefuji, M., Laeven, R.J.A., Magnus, J.R. et al. Pareto utility. Theory Decis 75, 43–57 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-012-9293-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-012-9293-8