Based on measurements among 332 owner-managers, we investigate how the global shape of the utility function (i.e., S-shaped versus concave or convex over the total range of outcomes) relates to choice behavior. We find that the global shape of the utility function differs across decision makers...

Several authors have indicated a contradiction between consistent aggregation of subjective beliefs and tastes, and a Pareto condition. We argue that the Pareto condition that implies the contradiction is not compelling. Society should not necessarily endorse a unanimous choice when it is based...

The linear plus exponential utility function has received increasing attention of late as a particularly attractive family for evaluating additive gambles for wealth. In addition to its ability to reflect increasing appreciation for money, risk aversion, and decreasing risk aversion, it is...

The set of equilibrium prices in linear exchange economies is by Mertens (1996) a convex polyhedral cone (after adding {0}). We give a constructive proof of this fact. From this, we derive a lower semi-continuity property of the equilibrium price correspondence. The set of equilibrium...

We modify the altruistic model by assuming that income, instead of the heir's utility, enters the altruist's utility function. We name this formulation "myopic" because, unlike in Barro's (1974) model, the altruist does not need to foresee into the indenite future to make his decisions. We...

A hierarchic price is a finite ordered family of price vectors {p1,...,pk}. It extends the notion of exchange values proposed by Gay (1978). These price notions were introduced in order to establish the existence of a competitive equilibrium without the strong survival assumption. It is well...

In this paper we propose a unifying approach to study optimal growth models with bounded or unbounded returns. We prove existence of optimal solutions. We prove also, without using contraction method, that the value function is the unique solution to the Bellman equation in some classes of...