Decision-Making under Risk : Three Experimental Essays.

Summary Using experimental laboratory methodology, this thesis contributes to the debate on individuals' attitudes toward risk in three areas: the first essay presents the results of an experiment designed to elicit prudence and risk aversion. The responses reveal that a majority of subjects are cautious, and a large proportion are both risk averse and cautious, without risk aversion and cautious behavior being correlated. The second test analyzes the impact of risk on the decision to finance a public good. In theory, risk-averse individuals should reduce their contributions under uncertainty. This prediction is verified for economists, but not for non-economists, who instead increase their contributions. In the last essay, we analyze social preferences, both on individual risk and on social welfare. We find that social attitudes towards risk are similar to individual attitudes.