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On the (Mis)Use of Wealth as a Proxy for Risk Aversion


Marc F. Bellemare


Duke University - Sanford School of Public Policy

Zachary S. Brown


OECD; Duke Global Health Institute

July 11, 2009

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Forthcoming

Abstract:     
Tests of risk sharing in the contracting literature often rely on wealth as a proxy for risk aversion. The intuition behind these tests is that since contract choice is monotonic in the coefficients of risk aversion, which are themselves assumed monotonic in wealth, the effect of a change in wealth on contract choice is clearly identified. We show that tests of risk sharing relying on wealth as a proxy for risk aversion are only identified insofar as the econometrician is willing to assume that (i) the principal is risk-neutral or her preferences exhibit CARA; and (ii) the agent is risk-neutral.

Keywords: Contract theory, principal-agent models, risk sharing, empirical tests, risk aversion

JEL Classification: C12, D86, G32, Q19

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Date posted: June 6, 2008 ; Last revised: April 26, 2010

Suggested Citation

Bellemare, Marc F. and Brown, Zachary S., On the (Mis)Use of Wealth as a Proxy for Risk Aversion (July 11, 2009). American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1140668

Contact Information

Marc F. Bellemare (Contact Author)
Duke University - Sanford School of Public Policy ( email )
201 Science Drive
P.O. Box 90239
Durham, NC 27708-0239
United States
919-613-7405 (Phone)
919-681-8288 (Fax)
HOME PAGE: http://www.marcfbellemare.com
Zachary S. Brown
OECD ( email )
2 rue Andre Pascal
Paris Cedex 16, 75775
France
Duke Global Health Institute ( email )
Durham, NC 27708-0328
United States
HOME PAGE: http://www.duke.edu/~zsb2
Feedback to SSRN (Beta)


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