Mechanism Design with Multidimensional, Continuous Types and Interdependent Valuations (2006)
Nolan H. Miller, John W. Pratt, Richard J. Zeckhauser, Scott Johnson
We consider the mechanism design problem when agents ’ types are multidimensional and continuous, and their valuations are interdependent. If there are at least three agents whose types satisfy a...
Results of an extensive empirical study of the accuracy of seven normal and three binomial approximations to the hypergeometric distribution are presented in terms of maximum absolute error under...
APPROXIMATING THE BINOMIAL, F, AND COMMONLY USED RELATED DISTRIBUTIONS, I. (1998)
Peizer,David B., Pratt,John W.
The paper concerns a new Normal approximation to the beta distribution and its relatives, in particular, the binomial, Pascal negative binomial, F, t, Poisson, gamma, and chi square distributions....
Principal faculty adviser: Burnaby Munson, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
The outer needle of some Bayes sequential continuation regions (1966)
This paper explores analytically the outer portion of the Bayes continuation region in sequential sampling problems for the Bernoulli process with a beta distribution on the parameter p, and for the...
Willingness to Pay and the Distribution of Risk and Wealth.
Pratt, John W, Zeckhauser, Richard J
Willingness-to-pay is an appropriate benefits metric for government expenditure and regulatory policies that reduce risks to human life. It depends, however, on the distribution of risk and wealth....
Aversion to One Risk in the Presence of Others.
The more risk-averse of two individuals need not have the smaller certainty equivalent for a risk (x" tilda") if another risk or combination of risks (w" tilda") is present. It is shown that he must,...
The Impact of Risk Sharing on Efficient Decision.
Pratt, John W, Zeckhauser, Richard J
A group of risk-averse members must choose among monetary risks and payoff-sharing rules. Departure from the status quo requires unanimous consent. Such groups drill for oil, bail out nations, and...
Mechanism design with multidimensional, continuous types and interdependent valuations
Miller, Nolan H., Pratt, John W., Zeckhauser, Richard J., Johnson, Scott
Efficiency Despite Mutually Payoff-Relevant Private Information: The Finite Case.
Johnson, Scott, Pratt, John W, Zeckhauser, Richard J
Individuals with finite private information independently choose acts and messages. Their utilities may depend on all acts and information, including the center's. Incentive payments are separable...
Increasing Risk: Some Direct Constructions.
Machina, Mark J, Pratt, John W
This article extends the classic Rothschild-Stiglitz characterization of comparative risk ("increasing risk") in two directions. By adopting a more general definition of "mean preserving spread"...
Delayed Compensation for Lost Income.
Pratt, John W, Zeckhauser, Richard J
Lengthy legal proceedings are often required before an individual who has unjustly lost income is compensated. The utility loss while waiting in straitened circumstances exceeds the utility gain from...
Multidimensional Bargains and the Desirability of Ex Post Inefficiency.
Pratt, John W, Zeckhauser, Richard J
In multidimensional bargaining situations where individuals possess relevant private information, say about preferences, allocational efficiency is a central concern. Even if there is no squabbling...
The Logic of Partial-Risk Aversion: Paradox Lost.
One rational individual may be willing to pay less than another to insure a risk "epsilon" when another risk w is present even though he would pay more to insure any isolated risk, and even though...
Some neglected axioms in fair division
Conditions one might impose on fair allocation procedures are introduced. Nondiscrimination requires that agents share an item in proportion to their entitlements if they receive nothing else. The...
Efficient Design with Multidimensional, Continuous Types, and Interdependent Valuations
Johnson, Scott, Miller, Nolan, Pratt, John W., Zeckhauser, Richard
We consider mechanism design in social choice problems in which agents’ types are continuous, multidimensional, and mutually payoff-relevant, and there are three or more agents. If the center...
Weak Proper Risk Aversion And The Tempering Effect of Background Risk
Gollier, Christian, John W. PRATT
We examine in this paper a new natural restriction on utility functions, namely that an undesirable risk can never be made desirable by the presence of an independent, unfair risk. This concept is...
Introduction to Statistical Decision Theory
John W. Pratt, Howard Raiffa, Robert Schlaifer
The Bayesian revolution in statistics--where statistics is integrated with decision making in areas such as management, public policy, engineering, and clinical medicine--is here to stay....