We consider the Nash equilibrium existence problem for Cournotian games and we provide two results for it. The first is compatible with utility functions that are discontinuous at the origin, but requires the nonemptiness of best-replies at the origin (and in some sense is known); the second...

In the context of modern portfolio theory (MPT), the actual weights of the market portfolio and cash are determined by investor preferences for risk and return. Value at risk (VaR) models specify losses with a percent frequency. VaR models are popular because they are easy to explain and...

We model inter-individual differences in preferences for redistribution as a function of (a) self-interest; (b) stable ideological traits; (c) subjective perceptions of the relative importance of the main determinants of income differences (luck, effort, talent). Individuals base the latter on...

This study investigates the interaction of the use of modern contraceptives, fertility, education, and long-run growth. It develops an economic model that takes into account that sexual intercourse is utility enhancing and that birth control by modern contraceptives is more efficient and more...

Standard health economics concentrates on the provision of care by medical professionals. Yet ‘care’ receives scant analysis; it is portrayed as a spillover effect or externality in the form of interdependent utility functions. In this context care can only be conceived as either acts of...

Nontrivial decision problems typically involve a trade-off among multiple attributes of choice options. One simple way of resolving such trade-offs is to aggregate multiple attributes into one real-valued index, known as weighted or separable utility. Applications of weighted utility can be...

Discrete choice models are usually derived from the assumption of random utility maximization. We consider the reverse problem, whether choice probabilities are consistent with maximization of random utilities. This leads to tests that consider the variation of these choice probabilities with...

In this paper portfolio problems with linear loss functions and multivariate elliptical distributed returns are studied. We consider two risk measures, Value-at-Risk and Conditional-Value-at-Risk, and two types of decision makers, risk neutral and risk averse. For Value-at-Risk, we show that the...

The (additive) generator of an Archimedean copula - as well as the inverse of the generator - is a strictly decreasing and convex function, while Morgenstern utility functions (applying to risk averse decision makers) are nondecreasing and concave. This provides a basis for deriving either a...