Microeconomics Wilfred’s expected utility function is px1^0.5+(1−p)x2^0.5, where p is the probability that he consumes x1 and 1 - p is the probability that he consumes x2. Wilfred is offered a choice between getting a sure payment of $Z or a lottery in which he receives $2500 with probability p = 0.4 and $3700 with probability 1 - p. Wilfred will choose the sure payment if Z > CE and the lottery if Z < CE, where the value of CE is equal to ___ (please round your final answer to two decimal places if necessary)

Microeconomics Wilfred’s expected utility function is px1^0.5+(1−p)x2^0.5, where p is the probability that he consumes x1 and 1 - p is the probability that he consumes x2. Wilfred is offered a choice between getting a sure payment of $Z or a lottery in which he receives $2500 with probability p = 0.4 and $3700 with probability 1 - p. Wilfred will choose the sure payment if Z > CE and the lottery if Z < CE, where the value of CE is equal to ___ (please round your final answer to two decimal places if necessary)

Microeconomic Theory

12th Edition

ISBN:9781337517942

Author:NICHOLSON

Publisher:NICHOLSON

Chapter7: Uncertainty

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 7.8P

See similar textbooks

Similar questions

A woman with current wealth X has the opportunity to bet an amount on the occurrence of an event that she knows will occur with probability P. If she wagers W, she will received 2W, if the event occur and if it does not. Assume that the Bernoulli utility function takes the form u(x) = with r > 0. How much should she wager? Does her utility function exhibit CARA, DARA, IARA? Alex plays football for a local club in Kumasi. If he does not suffer any injury by the end of the season, he will get a professional contract with Kotoko, which is worth $10,000. If he is injured though, he will get a contract as a fitness coach worth $100. The probability of the injury is 10%. Describe the lottery What is the expected value of this lottery? What is the expected utility of this lottery if u(x) = Assume he could buy insurance at price P that could pay $9,900 in case of injury. What is the highest value of P that makes it worthwhile for Alex to purchase insurance? What is the certainty…
Betty is looking for a job. She considers job opportunities intwo cities. Bettyís utility is given by y- x, where y is the lifetime income andx is the amount spent on buying a house. The income from City 1 fluctuatesalthough the house price is stable. On the contrary, the income from City2 is stable while the house price fluctuates. If she moves to City 1, Bettycan earn a lifetime income y1 with probability alpha and 1 + y1 with probability1-alpha . The house price in City 1 is x1. Moving to City 2 means that Bettycan earn an income of y2. However, the house price is x2 with probabilitygamma and 1 + x2 with probability 1-gamma . Do the following: (a) Write down theexpected utilities associated with living in the two respective cities, i.e., V1and V2. (b) Derive the condition under which Betty chooses City 1.
Suppose that Mira has a utility function given by U=2I+10√I. She is considering two job opportunities. The first job pays a salary of $40,000 for sure. The second job pays a base salary of $20,000 but offers the possibility of a $40,000 bonus on top of your base salary. She believes that there is a probability of p=0.50 that she will earn the bonus. What is the expected salary of the second job? Which offer gives Mira a higher expected utility? Based on this information, is Mira risk adverse, risk neutral, or risk-loving?
Gary likes to gamble. Donna offers to bet him $31 on the outcome of a boat race. If Gary’s boat wins, Donna would give him $31. If Gary’s boat does not win, Gary would give her $31. Gary’s utility function is p1x^21+p2x^22, where p1 and p2 are the probabilities of events 1 and 2 and where x1 and x2 are his wealth if events 1 and 2 occur respectively. Gary’s total wealth is currently only $80 and he believes that the probability that he will win the race is 0.3. Which of the following is correct? (please submit the number corresponding to the correct answer). Taking the bet would reduce his expected utility. Taking the bet would leave his expected utility unchanged. Taking the bet would increase his expected utility. There is not enough information to determine whether taking the bet would increase or decrease his expected utility. The information given in the problem is self-contradictory.
Leora has a monthly income of $20,736. Unfortunately, there is a chance that she will have an accident that will result in costs of $10,736. Thus leaving her an income of only $10,000. The probability of an accident is 0.5. Finally assume that her preferences over income can be represented by the utility function u(x) = 2ln(x).a) What is the expected income? What is Leora’s expected utility (you may leave in log form)? b) What is the certainty equivalent to her situation? What is the risk premium associated with her situation?c) What is the maximum that Leora would be willing to pay for a full insurance policy?d) Illustrate her expected utility, expected wealth, certainty equivalent, the risk premium and her willingness to pay for a full insurance policy in a diagram.
Abigail is a consumer whose utility is a function of her total wealth W. u(W ) = log W. Suppose that Abigail begins with initial wealth of A = 100 but will suffer a serious illness with probability π = 0.15 which will require extensive treatment costing L = 80. To hedge against this risk, Abigail considers buying a health insurance policy. She may buy as much insurance I as she wishes at a cost of p per dollar of coverage, so her payoffs in each state are Healthy Ill Probability 0.85 0.15 No Insurance 100 20 Claim 0 I Premium −pI −pI a) Show that Abigail is risk averse. b) Suppose that the insurance premiums are actuarially fair so that p = 0. Find Abigail’s expected wealth E[W ] and expected utility E[u(W )] as functions of how much insurance she buys I. c) How much insurance should Abigail buy?
Abigail is a consumer whose utility is a function of her total wealth W. u(W ) = log W. Suppose that Abigail begins with initial wealth of A = 100 but will suffer a serious illness with probability π = 0.15 which will require extensive treatment costing L = 80. To hedge against this risk, Abigail considers buying a health insurance policy. She may buy as much insurance I as she wishes at a cost of p per dollar of coverage, so her payoffs in each state are Healthy Ill Probability 0.85 0.15 No Insurance 100 20 Claim 0 I Premium −pI −pI a) Now suppose that the insurance company raises premiums to p = 0.2 so that they are no longer actuarially fair. Find Abigail’s expected wealth E[W ] and expected utility E[u(W )]. b) How much insurance should Abigail buy now?
Consider the following prospects – A: (0.5, 0, 0.5: $100, $60, $10) B: (0, 0.9, 0.1: $100, $60, $10) C: (0.2, 0.5, 0.3: $100, $60, $10) D: (0.4, 0.2, 0.4: $100, $60, $10) Show that D>A>B>C is consistent with expected utility theory and that this preference ordering implies “risk-loving” preferences. Show that C>B>D>A is consistent with the expected utility theory.
Seung's utility function is given by U - C^(1/2), where C is consumption and C^(1/2) is the square root of consumption. She makes $50,625 per year and enjoys jumping out of airplanes. There's a 5% chance that in the next year, she will break both legs, incur medical costs of $30,000, and lose an additional $5,000 from missing work. a. What is Seung's expected utility without insurance? b. Suppose Seung can buy insurance that will cover the medical expenses but not the forgone part of her salary. How much would an actuarially fair policy cost, and what is the expected utility if she buys it? Policy cost: $___ Expected utility: ___ c. Suppose Seung can buy insurance that will cover her medical expenses and foregone salary. How much would such a policy cost if it's actuarially fair, and what is her expected utility if she buys it? Policy cost: $___ Expected Utility: ___
Natasha has utility function u(I) = (10*I)0.5, where I is her annual income (in thousands). (a) Is she a risk loving, risk averse or risk neutral individual? She is [risk loving, risk adverse, risk neutral] , as her utility function is [concave, convex, linear] (b) Suppose that she is currently earning an income of $40,000 (I = 40) and can earn that income next year with certainty. She is offered a chance to take a new job that offers a 0.6 probability of earning $44,000 and a 0.4 probability of earning $33,000. She should [take, not take] the new job because her expected utility of (approximately) [18.27,19.82,20,20.95,21.14] is [greater than, less than, equal to] her current utility of [18.27,19.85,20,20.95,21.14] .
Y5 Alfred is a risk-averse person with $100 in monetary wealth and owns a house worth $300, for total wealth of $400. The probability that his house is destroyed by fire (equivalent to a loss of $300) is pne = 0.5. If he exerts an effort level e = 0.3 to keep his house safe, the probability falls to pe = 0.2. His utility function is: U = w0.5 – e where e is effort level exerted (zero in the case of no effort and 0.3 in the case of effort).a. In the absence of insurance, does Alfred exert effort to lower the probability of fire?HINT: Calculate and compare the expected utility i) with effort, and ii) without effort. If effort is exerted, then the effort cost is paid regardless of whether or not a fire occurs.b. Alfred is considering buying fire insurance. The insurance agent explains that a home owner’s insurance policy would require paying a premium α and would repay the value of the house in the event of fire, minus a deductible “D”. [A deductible is an amount of money that the…
A risk-averse expected-utility maximizer has initial wealth w0 and utility function u. She facesa risk of a financial loss of L dollars, which occurs with probability π. An insurance companyoffers to sell a policy that costs p dollars per dollar of coverage (per dollar paid back in theevent of a loss). Denote by x the number of dollars of coverage.(a) Give the formula for her expected utility V (x) as a function of x.(b) Suppose that u(z) = −e−zλ, π = 1/4, L = 100 and p = 1/3. Write V (x)using these values. There should be three variables, x, λ and w. Find the optimal value of x,as a function of λ and w, by solving the first-order condition (set the derivative of the expectedutility with respect to x equal to zero). (The second-order condition for this problem holds butyou do not need to check it.) Does the optimal amount of coverage increase or decrease in λ,where λ > 0?(c) Repeat exercise (b), but with p = 1/6.(d) You should find that for either (b) or (c), the optimal coverage…