Related papers: Utilitarian Theorems and Equivalence of Utility Th…
We present a necessary and sufficient condition for Alt's system to be represented by a continuous utility function. Moreover, we present a necessary and sufficient condition for this utility function to be concave. The latter condition can…
In the context of aggregating von Neumann-Morgenstern utilities, we show that bounded violations of the Pareto conditions characterize aggregation rules that are approximately utilitarian. When a single utility function is intended to…
Harsanyi (1955) showed that the only way to aggregate individual preferences into a social preference which satisfies certain desirable properties is ``utilitarianism'', whereby the social utility function is a weighted average of…
The famous Afriat's theorem from the theory of revealed preferences establishes necessary and suffient conditions for existence of utility function for a given set of choices and prices. The result on existence of a {\it homogeneous}…
We show that the main results of the expected utility and dual utility theories can be derived in a unified way from two fundamental mathematical ideas: the separation principle of convex analysis, and integral representations of continuous…
It is often argued that an agent making decisions on behalf of two or more principals who have different utility functions should adopt a {\em Pareto-optimal} policy, i.e., a policy that cannot be improved upon for one agent without making…
The aim of this article is to define a notion of cardinal utility function called measurable utility and to define it on a connected and separable subset of a weakly ordered topological space. The definition is equivalent to the ones given…
In this note we analyze the relationship between the properties of von Neumann-Morgenstern utility functions and expected utility functions. More precisely, we investigate which of the regularity and concavity assumptions usually imposed on…
Shafer's theory of belief and the Bayesian theory of probability are two alternative and mutually inconsistent approaches toward modelling uncertainty in artificial intelligence. To help reduce the conflict between these two approaches,…
Recent literature in the last Maximum Entropy workshop introduced an analogy between cumulative probability distributions and normalized utility functions. Based on this analogy, a utility density function can de defined as the derivative…
Expected Utility: Algebraic Expected Utility In this paper, we provide two axiomatizations of algebraic expected utility, which is a particular generalized expected utility, in a von Neumann-Morgenstern setting, i.e. uncertainty…
We introduce a new interpretation of two related notions - conditional utility and utility independence. Unlike the traditional interpretation, the new interpretation renders the notions the direct analogues of their probabilistic…
We examine behavioral axioms in decision theory that are satisfied approximately rather than exactly. We demonstrate that in key domains -- decisions under risk, uncertainty, and intertemporal choice -- behavior that \emph{almost} satisfies…
We advance a general theory of coherent preference that surrenders restrictions embodied in orthodox doctrine. This theory enjoys the property that any preference system admits extension to a complete system of preferences, provided it…
In this paper we extend Savage's theory of decision-making under uncertainty from a classical environment into a non-classical one. We formulate the corresponding axioms and provide representation theorems for qualitative measures and…
In electron density functional theory formal properties of density functionals play an important role in constructing and testing approximate functionals. In this paper it is shown that a set of density functionals satisfy an equation that…
In this paper, we employ the theory of normal families in several complex variables to obtain some uniqueness theorems for entire functions. These results extend the related works of Li and Yi [11], and Lu et al. [18] to the setting of…
We consider a sequence of repeated interactions between an agent and an environment. Uncertainty about the environment is captured by a probability distribution over a space of hypotheses, which includes all computable functions. Given a…
In this paper we present a duality theory for the robust utility maximisation problem in continuous time for utility functions defined on the positive real axis. Our results are inspired by -- and can be seen as the robust analogues of --…
We pursue an inverse approach to utility theory and consumption & investment problems. Instead of specifying an agent's utility function and deriving her actions, we assume we observe her actions (i.e. her consumption and investment…