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Contribution Details

Type Working Paper
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Rationality on the Rise: Why Relative Risk Aversion Increases with Stake Size
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Helga Fehr-Duda
  • Adrian Bruhin
  • Thomas Epper
  • Renate Schubert
Language
  • English
Institution University of Zurich
Series Name Working paper series / Institute for Empirical Research in Economics
Number No. 413
ISSN 1424-0459
Date 2009
Abstract Text How does risk tolerance vary with stake size? This important question cannot be adequately answered if framing effects, nonlinear probability weighting, and heterogeneity of preference types are neglected. We show that the increase in relative risk aversion over gains cannot be captured by the curvature of the utility function. It is driven predominantly by a change in probability weighting of a majority group of individuals who exhibit more rational probability weighting at high stakes. Contrary to gains, noncoherent change in relative risk aversion is observed for losses. These results not onlynchallenge expected utility theory, but also prospect theory.
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