English

Discounted Expected Utility: A Revealed Preference Analysis

Theoretical Economics 2026-06-29 v1

Abstract

We present a revealed preference characterization of the discounted expected utility model with a concave utility function. The characterization offers a nonparametric test of the model. We apply the test to an experimental data set in the literature and find that the model is almost always rejected even when all payments involved are subject to risk.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2606.29779,
  title  = {Discounted Expected Utility: A Revealed Preference Analysis},
  author = {Wei Ma},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2606.29779},
  year   = {2026}
}