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Contribution Details

Type Journal Article
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title A note on Savage's theorem with a finite number of states
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Thorsten Hens
Item Subtype Original Work
Refereed Yes
Status Published in final form
Language
  • English
Journal Title Journal of Risk and Uncertainty
Publisher Springer
Geographical Reach international
ISSN 0895-5646
Volume 5
Page Range 63 - 71
Date 1992
Abstract Text This article gives a preference-based characterization of subjective expected utility for the general equilibrium model with a finite number of states. The characterization follows Savage (1954) as closely as possible but has to abandon his axiom (P6), atomlessness of events, since this requires an infinite state space. To introduce continuity we replace (P6) with a continuity assumption on the set of consequences and assume the preferences are smooth. Then we apply Savage's sure-thing principle and his state-independence axiom to get an additively separable utility representation. Finally, to separate subjective probabilities from basic tastes, we apply a new axiom, which states that for each pair of states the marginal rate of substitution is constant along the certainty line.
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Digital Object Identifier 10.1007/BF00208787
Other Identification Number merlin-id:19963
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