Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-7-2012
Abstract
The authors use data on insurance deductible choices to estimate a structural model of risky choice that incorporates "standard" risk aversion (diminishing marginal utility for wealth) and probability distortions. They find that probability distortions--characterized by substantial overweighting of small probabilities and only mild insensitivity to probability changes--play an important role in explaining the aversion to risk manifested in deductible choices. This finding is robust to allowing for observed and unobserved heterogeneity in preferences. They demonstrate that neither Kőszegi-Rabin loss aversion alone nor Gul disappointment aversion alone can explain our estimated probability distortions, signifying a key role for probability weighting.
Publication Citation
103 Am. Econ. Rev. 2499-2529 (2013)
Scholarly Commons Citation
Barseghyan, Levon; Molinari, Francesca; Teitelbaum, Joshua C.; and O'Donoghue, Ted, "The Nature of Risk Preferences: Evidence from Insurance Choices" (2012). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 1067.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1067