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In economics, a random utility model (RUM), [1] [2] also called stochastic utility model, [3] is a mathematical description of the preferences of a person, whose choices are not deterministic, but depend on a random state variable.
Given its motivations and approach, generalized expected utility theory may properly be regarded as a subfield of behavioral economics, but it is more frequently located within mainstream economic theory. The expected utility model developed by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern dominated decision theory from its formulation in 1944 until ...
Download as PDF; Printable version; In other projects ... Cost–utility analysis; D. Debreu's representation theorems; ... Trade-off talking rational economic person ...
maximizing behavior of economic units (as to utility for a consumer and profit for a firm) economic systems (including markets and economies) in stable equilibrium; qualitative properties between two or more variables, such as an alleged technological relation or psychological law (indexed by the sign of the relevant functional relationship).
The consumer has a utility function, from which his demand curves can be calculated. Then, it is possible to predict the behavior of the consumer in certain conditions, price or income changes. But in reality, there are many different consumers, each with his own utility function and demand curve.
Standard utility functions represent ordinal preferences. The expected utility hypothesis imposes limitations on the utility function and makes utility cardinal (though still not comparable across individuals). Although the expected utility hypothesis is standard in economic modelling, it has been found to be violated in psychological experiments.
This is the expected utility hypothesis. As stated, the hypothesis may appear to be a bold claim. The aim of the expected utility theorem is to provide "modest conditions" (i.e. axioms) describing when the expected utility hypothesis holds, which can be evaluated directly and intuitively:
In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish to maximize, i.e., an objective function.