Summary
A new axiom for preference orderings over lotteries, called the projective independence axiom, is formulated. Given suitable continuity and monotonicity assumptions, the axiom implies that utility is either in the weighted utility class or is quadratic in probabilities. The betweenness axiom is used to distinguish between these two classes of functions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allais, M.: Le comportement de l'homme rationnel devant le risque, critique des postulates et axiomes de l'ecole Americaine. Econometrica21, 503–46 (1953)
Camerer, C. F., Ho, T. H.: Violations of the betweenness axiom and nonlinearity in probability, manuscript, 1991
Chew, S. H.: A generalization of the quasilinear mean with applications to the measurement of income inequality and decision theory resolving the Allais paradox. Econometrica51, 1065–1092 (1983)
Chew, S. H.: Axiomatic utility theories with the betweenness property. Ann. Operat. Res.19, 273–298 (1989)
Chew, S. H., Epstein, L. G., Segal, U.: Mixture symmetry and quadratic utility. Econometrica59, 139–163 (1991)
Coombs, C., Huang, L.: Tests of the betweenness property of expected utility. J. Math. Psychol.13, 323–337 (1976)
Coxeter, H. S. M.: Projective geometry. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1974
Debreu, G.: Continuity properties of Paretian utility. Int. Econ. Rev.5, 285–293 (1964)
Dekel, E.: An axiomatic characterization of preferences under uncertainty. J. Econ. Theory40, 304–318 (1986)
Epstein, L. G.: Behavior under risk: recent developments in theory and applications. In: Laffont, J. J. (ed.) Advances in economic theory. Cambridge: University Press 1993. Vol. II, pp. 1–63
Machina, M. J.: ‘Expected utility’ analysis without the independence axiom. Econometrica50, 277–323 (1982)
Machina, M. J.: Stochastic choice functions generated from deterministic preferences over lotteries. Econ. J.95, 575–594 (1985)
Machina, M. J.: Choice under uncertainty: problems solved and unsolved. J. Econ. Perspect.1, 121–154 (1987)
Samuelson, P. A.: Probability, utility and the independence axiom. Econometrica20, 670–678 (1952)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chew, S.H., Epstein, L.G. & Segal, U. The projective independence axiom. Econ Theory 4, 189–215 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01221200
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01221200