Portfolio Choice

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry E. Back
Keyword(s):  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Portfolio Choice ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
Absolute Risk ◽  
Risk Tolerance ◽  
Absolute Risk Aversion ◽  
Initial Wealth ◽  
Optimal Investments ◽  
Mean Variance ◽  
Constant Absolute Risk Aversion

The portfolio choice model is introduced, and the first‐order condition is derived. Properties of the demand for a single risky asset are derived from second‐order risk aversion and decreasing absolute risk aversion. Optimal investments are independent of initial wealth for investors with constant absolute risk aversion. Optimal investments are affine functions of initial wealth for investors iwth linear risk tolerance. The optimal portfolio for an investor with constant absolute risk aversion is derived when asset returns are normally distributed. Investors with quadratic utility have mean‐variance preferences, and investors have mean‐variance preferences when returns are elliptically distributed.

Utility and Risk Aversion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry E. Back
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Expected Utility ◽  
Absolute Risk ◽  
Risk Tolerance ◽  
Relative Risk Aversion ◽  
Absolute Risk Aversion ◽  
Certainty Equivalents ◽  
Conditional Expectations ◽  
Constant Absolute Risk Aversion

Expected utility is introduced. Risk aversion and its equivalence with concavity of the utility function (Jensen’s inequality) are explained. The concepts of relative risk aversion, absolute risk aversion, and risk tolerance are introduced. Certainty equivalents are defined. Expected utility is shown to imply second‐order risk aversion. Linear risk tolerance (hyperbolic absolute risk aversion), cautiousness parameters, constant relative risk aversion, and constant absolute risk aversion are described. Decreasing absolute risk aversion is shown to imply a preference for positive skewness. Preferences for kurtosis are discussed. Conditional expectations are introduced, and the law of iterated expectations is explained. Risk averse investors are shown to dislike mean‐independent noise.

Constant Absolute Risk Aversion, Bankruptcy, and Wealth-Dependent Decisions

1980 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Lippman ◽  
John J. McCall ◽  
Wayne L. Winston
Keyword(s):  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Absolute Risk ◽  
Absolute Risk Aversion ◽  
Constant Absolute Risk Aversion

DE FINETTI ON RISK AVERSION

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-159
Author(s):  
Joseph B. Kadane ◽  
Gaia Bellone
Keyword(s):  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Absolute Risk ◽  
Risk Premia ◽  
Absolute Risk Aversion ◽  
Kenneth Arrow ◽  
De Finetti ◽  
Constant Absolute Risk Aversion ◽  
Special Case

According to Mark Rubinstein (2006) ‘In 1952, anticipating Kenneth Arrow and John Pratt by over a decade, he [de Finetti] formulated the notion of absolute risk aversion, used it in connection with risk premia for small bets, and discussed the special case of constant absolute risk aversion.’ The purpose of this note is to ascertain the extent to which this is true, and at the same time, to correct certain minor errors that appear in de Finetti's work.

On Three Standard Results in the Theory of Insurance Demand

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Hong
Keyword(s):  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Absolute Risk ◽  
Unified Framework ◽  
Insurance Demand ◽  
Absolute Risk Aversion ◽  
Maximum Coverage ◽  
Insurance Policies ◽  
Inferior Good ◽  
Initial Wealth ◽  
Giffen Good

Abstract This article re-examines three standard results in the theory of insurance demand: (i) full coverage with a fair premium and partial coverage with an unfair premium; (ii) insurance is an inferior good under decreasing absolute risk aversion (DARA) and (iii) insurance may be a Giffen good under DARA. It has been shown recently that (i) holds for the class of insurance policies in which maximum coverage fully covers the potential loss. We show that whether (i) holds beyond this class of policies is indeterminate. In addition, we employ a unified framework to investigate the effects of changes in initial wealth and price. In particular, we show that both (ii) and (iii) hold for a certain class of insurance policies which include all commonly-used types of policies. The result also provides a unified treatment of several results in the extant literature.

scholarly journals Short‐term investments and indices of risk

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 891-921
Author(s):  
Yuval Heller ◽  
Amnon Schreiber
Keyword(s):  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Absolute Risk ◽  
Risk Index ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Decision Problems ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Risky Assets ◽  
Absolute Risk Aversion ◽  
Constant Absolute Risk Aversion

We study various decision problems regarding short‐term investments in risky assets whose returns evolve continuously in time. We show that in each problem, all risk‐averse decision makers have the same (problem‐dependent) ranking over short‐term risky assets. Moreover, in each problem, the ranking is represented by the same risk index as in the case of constant absolute risk aversion utility agents and normally distributed risky assets.

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