We propose a formal description of individual preferences that captures a subsistence requirement in consumption in an otherwise standard constant-elasticity-ofsubstitution (CES) utility specification. We study how substitutability between the subsistence good and another good depends on the...

We propose a representation of individual preferences with a subsistence requirement in consumption, and examine its implications for substitutability and sustainability. Specifically, we generalize the standard constant-elasticity-of-substitution (CES) utility specification for manufactured...

In this paper, necessary and sufficient conditions for an asset substitution matrix to be symmetric for all distributions of rates of return are derived. It is found that symmetry in this context is essentially equivalent to the proposition that the von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function...