Arbeitspapier
Weber's Law and the Biological Evolution of Risk Preferences: The Selective Dominance of the Logarithmic Utility Function
The paper offers a proof that expected utility maximisation with logarithmic utility is a dominant preference in the biological selection process in the sense that a population following any other preference for decision-making under risk will, with a probability that approaches certainty, disappear relative to the population following this preference as time goes to infinity. The result is contrasted with Weber's and Fechner's Psychophysical Law which implies logarithmic sensation functions for objective physical stimuli.
- Language
-
Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
-
Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 770
- Classification
-
Wirtschaft
- Subject
-
evolution
selection
risk preferences
- Event
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
-
Sinn, Hans-Werner
- Event
-
Veröffentlichung
- (who)
-
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
- (where)
-
Munich
- (when)
-
2002
- Handle
- Last update
-
10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET
Data provider
This object is provided by:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Sinn, Hans-Werner
- Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
Time of origin
- 2002
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