Exercise 3: Risky Investment Charlie has von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function u(x) = ln x and has wealth W = 250, 000. She is offered the opportunity to purchase a risky project for price P = 160, 000. With probability p = 1 the project will be a success and return V > 160, 000. With probability 1-p = the project will fail and be worthless (i.e. it returns 0). For simplicity assume there is no interest between the time of the investment and the time of its return, that is r = 0 . How large must V be in order for Charlie to want to purchase the risky project? [Hint: What is Charlie's expected utility is she does not purchase the project? What is Charlie's expected

Exercise 3: Risky Investment Charlie has von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function u(x) = ln x and has wealth W = 250, 000. She is offered the opportunity to purchase a risky project for price P = 160, 000. With probability p = 1 the project will be a success and return V > 160, 000. With probability 1-p = the project will fail and be worthless (i.e. it returns 0). For simplicity assume there is no interest between the time of the investment and the time of its return, that is r = 0 . How large must V be in order for Charlie to want to purchase the risky project? [Hint: What is Charlie's expected utility is she does not purchase the project? What is Charlie's expected

Microeconomic Theory

12th Edition

ISBN:9781337517942

Author:NICHOLSON

Publisher:NICHOLSON

Chapter7: Uncertainty

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 7.10P

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Exercise 3: Risky Investment Charlie has von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function u(x) = ln x and has wealth W = 250, 000. She is offered the opportunity to purchase a risky project for price P = 160, 000. 1 1 With probability p = 2 the project will be a success and return V > 160, 000. With probability 1 −p = 2 the project will fail and be worthless (i.e. it returns 0). For simplicity assume there is no interest between the time of the investment and the time of its return, that is r = 0 . How large must V be in order for Charlie to want to purchase the risky project? [Hint: What is Charlie’s expected utility is she does not purchase the project? What is Charlie’s expected utility is she purchases the project?]
You are considering a $500,000 investment in the fast-food industry and have narrowed your choice to either a McDonald’s or a Penn Station East Coast Subs franchise. McDonald’s indicates that, based on the location where you are proposing to open a new restaurant, there is a 25 percent probability that aggregate 10-year profits (net of the initial investment) will be $16 million, a 50 percent probability that profits will be $8 million, and a 25 percent probability that profits will be −$1.6 million. The aggregate 10-year profit projections (net of the initial investment) for a Penn Station East Coast Subs franchise is $48 million with a 2.5 percent probability, $8 million with a 95 percent probability, and −$48 million with a 2.5 percent probability. Considering both the risk and expected profitability of these two investment opportunities, which is the better investment? Explain carefully.
Obi-Wan is considering whether to buy a lightsaber. With probability 0.50 he will value the lightsaber at $4,000, and with probability 0.50 he will value it at $1,000. If new lightsabers sell for $2,500, then buying a new lightsaber is a: Multiple Choice fair gamble. better-than-fair gamble. less-than-fair gamble. less-than-fair gamble if Obi-Wan risk neutral.
A consumer has the following utility function u(x)= root x where x is the consumer’s total wealth. The consumer's total wealth is the consumer’s cash plus the value of her house. The consumer has $400 in cash (risk free) plus a house. The house is currently worth $756. With probability 70% nothing happens, and the value of the house stays the same. With probability 30%, high winds will cause $580 in damages to the house (in which case, the house value becomes $176). An insurance company offers to fully insure the house at an insurance premium p. What is the maximum insurance premium that the consumer is willing to pay? The consumer is willing to pay at most p=. The fair insurance premium is . In this example, the associated risk premium is .
Solve the following problem using an excel spreadsheet. A tobacco company isinterested in hiring a salesperson to promote smoking cigarettes in nightclubs. The position pays a flat salary of $50,000, regardless of sales levels. The firm has two applicants, Predictable Patty and Risky Ricky. Predictable Patty can produce with 100% certainty $100,000 a year in sales. Risky Ricky, on the other hand, can produce $300,000 with probability of 50%. But if he turns out to spend his time drinking and dancing in the nightclubs instead of making sales, he could actually cost the firm -$100,000 per year.a) During their first year on the job, what are the expected sales of Patty and Ricky? What are the firm’s expected profits on each worker?b) Now assume both workers are currently 25, and they will work until the retirement age of 65. The firm has the option to fire its new employee after one year based on sales, but can only hire one employee. Assume that it takes only one year to discover whether…
Find the values of Absolute Risk Aversion (ARA) and Relative Risk Aversion (RRA) for all the cases below. . U(C) = C0.5. . U(C) = C2. . U(C) = 5×C. . U(C) = -C-2. . U(C) = -C-7. . U(C) = -e-7C. . U(C) = [1/(1-a)]×C1-a , where a is a constant.
You need to hire some new employees to staff your startup venture. You know that potential employees are distributed throughout the population as follows, but you can't distinguish among them: Employee Value Probability $65,000 0.1 $78,000 0.1 $91,000 0.1 $104,000 0.1 $117,000 0.1 $130,000 0.1 $143,000 0.1 $156,000 0.1 $169,000 0.1 $182,000 0.1 The expected value of hiring one employee is. Suppose you set the salary of the position equal to the expected value of an employee. Assume that employees will not work for a salary below their employee value. The expected value of an employee who would apply for the position, at this salary, is. Given this adverse selection, your most reasonable salary offer (that ensures you do not lose money) is (A. 65,000, B. 91,000, C. 78,000, D. 104,000)
You need to hire some new employees to staff your startup venture. You know that potential employees are distributed throughout the population as follows, but you can't distinguish among them: Employee Value Probability $35,000 0.1 $46,000 0.1 $57,000 0.1 $68,000 0.1 $79,000 0.1 $90,000 0.1 $101,000 0.1 $112,000 0.1 $123,000 0.1 $134,000 0.1 The expected value of hiring one employee is $_____ . Suppose you set the salary of the position equal to the expected value of an employee. Assume that employees will not work for a salary below their employee value. The expected value of an employee who would apply for the position, at this salary, is $_____ . Given this adverse selection, your most reasonable salary offer (that ensures you do not lose money) is _________ ($46,000/$57,000/$35,000/$68,000).
Deborah is at the casino and is considering playing Roulette. In Roulette, a ball drops into one of 36 slots on a spinning wheel. 17 of the slots are red, 17 are black, and 2 are green. Each slot is equally likely and occurs with probability 1/36. Deborah bets $1.00 on black. If the ball drops into a black slot she receives $2.00 and if it drops into a red or green slot, she receives nothing. a) The expected value of Deborah’s bet (after subtracting the $1.00 she bet) is $________________ b) Given that Deborah makes this bet, is she risk adverse, risk neutral, or risk loving?
Consider a city where everyone commutes to the city center and commuting cost per mile per month is $40. Each household occupies a 1,000-square-foot dwelling and has $7,000 worth of possessions in its dwelling. The probability that any particular household will be burglarized (involving the uninsured loss of all possessions) is 0.10 at the city center and decreases by 0.01 per mile (to 0.09 at one mile, 0.08 at two miles, and so on). The housing price is $1.00 per square foot at the city center. a) Draw the housing-price curve for locations up to five miles from the city center.
"Jay, a writer of novels, just has completed a new thriller novel. A movie company and a TV network both want exclusive rights to market his new title. If he signs with the network, he will receive a single lump sum of $1,480,000, but if he signs with the movie company, the amount he will receive depends on how successful the movie is at the box office.The probability of a small box office earning $203,000 is 0.27. The probability of a medium box office of $1,660,000 is 0.49, and the probability of a large box office of $2,950,000 is 0.24.Jay can send his novel to a prominent movie critic to assess the potential box office success. It will cost $20,000 to get the novel evaluated by the movie critic.The movie critic can have either a favorable or unfavorable opinion. The movie critic's reliability of predicting box office success is as follows.If the movie will have a large box office, there is a 0.75 probability the critic will have a favorable opinion.If the movie will have a medium…
Let U(x)= x^(beta/2) denote an agent's utility function, where Beta > 0 is a parameter that defines the agent's attitude towards risk. Consider a gamble that pays a prize X = 10 with probability 0.2, a price X = 50 with probability 0.4 and a price X = 100 with probability 0.4. Compute the agentís expected utility for such gamble and find the value of Beta such that the agentis risk neutral? Suppose B= 1, what is the certainty equivalent of the gamble described above? What is the Arrow-Pratt measure of absolute risk aversion?