Determinants of Risk-Taking: Behavioral and Economic Views.

The concept of risk-taking is examined from various perspectives: economic, decision theoretic, and psychological. Multiple factors are discussed.as complicating the extraction of any presumed risk-taking propensity from a person's real world behavior. Problem structuring, beliefs, and values (defined here as riskless as opposed to risky utility) may of course underlie differences in risk behavior. In addition, context and process factors can induce variance in risk-bearing. Also, portfolio effects (including cross-sectional, multiattribute, and longitudinal) may greatly complicate the measurement of risk-taking propensity. Lastly, the presence of incomplete markets (via which risks can be partially diversified and traded) may further mask the link between intrinsic and observed risk-taking. This article examines each of these measurement obstacles and sources of variance. Copyright 1993 by Kluwer Academic Publishers