More pessimism than greediness: a characterization of monotone risk aversion in the Rank-Dependent Expected Utility model

Abstract

This paper studies monotone risk aversion, the aversion to monotone, meanpreserving increase in risk (Quiggin [21]), in the Rank Dependent Expected Utility (RDEU) model. This model replaces expected utility by another functional, characterized by twofunctions, a utility function u in conjunction with a probability-perception function f.Monotone mean-preserving increases in risk are closely related to the notion of comparative dispersion introduced by Bickel & Lehmann [3, 4] in Non-parametric Statistics. We present a characterization of the pairs (u; f) of monotone risk averse decision makers, based on an index of greediness Gu of the utility function u and an index of pessimism Pf of the probability perception function f: the decision maker is monotone risk averse if and onlyif Pf exceeds Gu. A novel element is that concavity of u is not necessary. In fact, u must be concave only if Pf = 1.Risk aversion, pessimism, greediness, Rank-dependent Expected Utility