Suppose that a car - rental agency offers insurance for a week that costs $125. A minor fender bender will cost 34000 whereas a major accident might cost $16 comma 000 in repairs. Without the insurance, you would be personally liable for any damages. There are two decision alternatives: take the insurance, or do not take the insurance. You researched insurance industry statistics and found out that the probability of a major accident is 0.04% and that the probability of a fender bender is 0.18%. The expected payoff if you buy the insurance is $125.00. The expected payoff if you do not buy the insurance is $12.52. Develop a utility function for the payoffs associated with this decision for a risk-averse person. Determine the decision that would result using the utilities instead of the payoffs. Based on the expected payoffs, the best decision is to not purchase the insurance. Are these two decisions consistent?

Microeconomic Theory
12th Edition
ISBN:9781337517942
Author:NICHOLSON
Publisher:NICHOLSON
Chapter2: Mathematics For Microeconomics
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 2.16P
Question
Suppose that a car - rental agency offers insurance
for a week that costs $125. A minor fender bender
will cost 34000 whereas a major accident might
cost $16 comma 000 in repairs. Without the
insurance, you would be personally liable for any
damages. There are two decision alternatives: take
the insurance, or do not take the insurance. You
researched insurance industry statistics and found
out that the probability of a major accident is 0.04%
and that the probability of a fender bender is
0.18%. The expected payoff if you buy the
insurance is $125.00. The expected payoff if you
do not buy the insurance is $12.52. Develop a
utility function for the payoffs associated with this
decision for a risk-averse person. Determine the
decision that would result using the utilities instead
of the payoffs. Based on the expected payoffs, the
best decision is to not purchase the insurance. Are
these two decisions consistent?
Transcribed Image Text:Suppose that a car - rental agency offers insurance for a week that costs $125. A minor fender bender will cost 34000 whereas a major accident might cost $16 comma 000 in repairs. Without the insurance, you would be personally liable for any damages. There are two decision alternatives: take the insurance, or do not take the insurance. You researched insurance industry statistics and found out that the probability of a major accident is 0.04% and that the probability of a fender bender is 0.18%. The expected payoff if you buy the insurance is $125.00. The expected payoff if you do not buy the insurance is $12.52. Develop a utility function for the payoffs associated with this decision for a risk-averse person. Determine the decision that would result using the utilities instead of the payoffs. Based on the expected payoffs, the best decision is to not purchase the insurance. Are these two decisions consistent?
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