Decision-making, Risk, and Utility : Assessments and Applications of Alternative Decision Models

Abstract: This thesis consists of four individual essays and an introductory chapter. While theoretically and empirically independent from each other, the essays share some common properties. They all, in some respect, treat various aspects and dimensions of preference structures, preference elicitation, and choice under risk and uncertainty. The first essay presents a small-scale experimental investigation into the effects of education on behaviour under risk. The second essay explores an overlooked equivalence between regret theory and the minimax loss model. The third essay deals with optimal production under risk. The production responses of the competitive firm to three different types of changes in risk are analysed. Finally, the fourth essay reports the results from a contingent valuation study on the willingness to pay for increases in the cost coverage offered by the Swedish public dental plan.