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User:Yungam99/Lottery (probability)

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The paradox argued by Allais complicates expected utility in the lottery.[1] In contrast to the former example, let there be outcomes consisting of only losing money. The situation 1 is that option 1-a has a certain loss of $500, and option 1-b has the same probability of losing $1000 or $ 0. The other situation 2 is that option 2-a has 0.1 chance of  losing $500 and 0.9 chance of losing $0, and option 2-b has 0.05 chance of losing $ 1000 and 0.95 chance of losing $0. This circumstance can be described as expected utility equations below.

• Situation 1

a. U(-$500)

b. 0.5 U(-$1000) + 0.5 U($0)

• Situation 2

a. 0.1 U(-$500) + 0.9 U($0)

b. 0.05 U(-$1000) + 0.95 U($0)

Many people tend to make different decisions between situations.[2] People prefer option 1-a to 1-b in situation 1, and 2-b to 2-a in situation 2. However two situations have the same structure, which causes paradox.

• Situation 1. U(-$500) > 0.5 U(-$1000) + 0.5 U($0)

• Situation 2.

0.1 U(-$500) + 0.9 U($0) < 0.05 U(-$1000) + 0.95 U($0)

0.1 U(-$500) < 0.05 U(-$1000) + 0.05 U($0)

U(-$500) < 0.5 U(-$1000) + 0.5 U($0)

The possible explanations for the above is that it has a ‘certainty effect’, that the outcomes without probabilities (determined in advance) will make a larger effect on the utility functions and final decisions.[3] In many cases, this focusing on the certainty may cause inconsistent decisions and preferences. Plus, people tend to find some clues from the format or context of the lotteries. [4]

It was additionally argued that how much people got trained about statistics could impact the decision making in the lottery.[5] Throughout a series of experiments, he concluded that a person statistically trained will be more likely to have consistent and confident outcomes which could be a generalized form.

References

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  1. ^ Schoemaker, Paul J. H. (1980). Experiments on Decisions under Risk: The Expected Utility Hypothesis. Dordrecht. p. 18. ISBN 978-94-017-5040-0. OCLC 913628692.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Schoemaker, Paul J. H. (1980). Experiments on Decisions under Risk: The Expected Utility Hypothesis. Dordrecht. p. 18. ISBN 978-94-017-5040-0. OCLC 913628692.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Schoemaker, Paul J. H. (1980). Experiments on Decisions under Risk: The Expected Utility Hypothesis. Dordrecht. p. 19. ISBN 978-94-017-5040-0. OCLC 913628692.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Schoemaker, Paul J. H. (1980). Experiments on Decisions under Risk: The Expected Utility Hypothesis. Dordrecht. p. 89. ISBN 978-94-017-5040-0. OCLC 913628692.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Schoemaker, Paul J. H. (1980). Experiments on Decisions under Risk: The Expected Utility Hypothesis. Dordrecht. p. 108. ISBN 978-94-017-5040-0. OCLC 913628692.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)