LOST IN STATE SPACE: ARE PREFERENCES STABLE?

LOST IN STATE SPACE: ARE PREFERENCES STABLE?

We use field experiments to examine the temporal stability of risk preferences. Over a 17-month period, we elicited risk preferences from subjects chosen to be representative of the adult Danish population. During this period we revisited many of these subjects and repeated a risk aversion elicitati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International economic review (Philadelphia) Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 1091 - 1112
Main Authors: Andersen, Steffen, Harrison, Glenn W., Lau, Morten I., Elisabet Rutström, E.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01-08-2008
Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects:
Attitudes
Denmark
Economic theory
Educational trends
Experimental economics
Field experiments
Financial risk
Higher education
Lotteries
P values
Preferences
Risk aversion
Risk preferences
Risk theory
Sampling methods
State of nature
Studies
Utility theory
Denmark
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Summary:We use field experiments to examine the temporal stability of risk preferences. Over a 17-month period, we elicited risk preferences from subjects chosen to be representative of the adult Danish population. During this period we revisited many of these subjects and repeated a risk aversion elicitation task. We find some variation in risk attitudes over time, but we do not detect a general tendency for risk attitudes to increase or decrease over a 17-month span. The results also suggest that risk preferences are state contingent with respect to personal finances.
Bibliography:istex:58D217B294DFD24E4F6FD7CBE5CF2C52E0DC6A9C
Manuscript received September 2005; revised April 2007.
ark:/67375/WNG-TH61B6PW-N
ArticleID:IERE507
gharrison@research.bus.ucf.edu
We thank the U.S. National Science Foundation for research support under grants NSF/IIS 9817518 and NSF/HSD 0527675, and the Danish Social Science Research Council for research support under project #24‐02‐0124. We are grateful to two referees for helpful comments. Please address correspondence to: Glenn W. Harrison, Department of Economics, University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 161400, Orlando, FL 32816‐1400. E‐mail
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SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0020-6598
1468-2354
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00507.x