Moderate stake variations for risk and uncertainty, gains and losses: methodological implications for comparative studies

Vieider, F. M. (2012) Moderate stake variations for risk and uncertainty, gains and losses: methodological implications for comparative studies. Economics Letters, 117 (3). pp. 718-721. ISSN 0165-1765 doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2011.12.028

Abstract/Summary

Risk attitudes are known to be sensitive to large stake variations. However, little is known on the sensitivity to moderate variations in stakes. This is important for studies that want to compare risk attitudes between countries or over time. I find that variations of ±20% affect only utility, while larger variations may affect also probability weighting. Surprisingly, the effect on weighting functions is larger for losses than for gains. It is also more pronounced for risk than for uncertainty.