J. Silvestre - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by J. Silvestre

Research paper thumbnail of Measuring risk aversion with lists: a new bias

Theory and Decision, 2013

Various experimental procedures aimed at measuring individual risk aversion involve a list of pai... more Various experimental procedures aimed at measuring individual risk aversion involve a list of pairs of alternative prospects. We first study the widely used method by , for which we find that the removal of some items from the lists yields a systematic decrease in risk aversion. This bias is quite distinct from other confounds that have been previously observed in the use of the Holt and Laury method. It may be related to empirical phenomena and theoretical developments where better prospects increase risk aversion. Nevertheless, we have also found that the more recent elicitation method due to , also based on lists, does not display any statistically significant bias when the corresponding items of the list are removed. Our results suggest that methods other than the popular Holt and Laury one may be preferable for the measurement of risk aversion.

Research paper thumbnail of Credit Constraints in General Equilibrium: Experimental Results*

The Economic Journal, 1997

Our work attempts to investigate the influence of credit tightness or expansion on activity and r... more Our work attempts to investigate the influence of credit tightness or expansion on activity and relative prices in a multimarket set-up. We report on some double-auction, two-market experiments where subjects had to satisfy an inequality involving the use of credit. The experiments display two regimes, characterised by high and low credit availability. Our main results are that changes in the availability of credit : (a) have minor and unsystematic effects on quantities and relative prices in the high-credit regime ; (b) have substantial effects, both on quantities and relative prices, in the low-credit regime.

Research paper thumbnail of Fixprice Analysis with Intermediate Goods

International Economic Review, 1983

1. INTRODUCTION We illustrate (Section 2) a peculiar fact which appears in Fixprice Theory only w... more 1. INTRODUCTION We illustrate (Section 2) a peculiar fact which appears in Fixprice Theory only when there are produced inputs: one may then find allocations which satisfy the usual definitions of Fixprice Equilibrium2 but where nevertheless profit incentives exist for using ...

Research paper thumbnail of Public ownership: Three proposals for resource allocation

Research paper thumbnail of Elicitation In the Lab. Does Embedding Matter?

Page 1. Elicitation in the lab. Does embedding matter? by Antoni Bosch-Domènech, Universitat Pomp... more Page 1. Elicitation in the lab. Does embedding matter? by Antoni Bosch-Domènech, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (antoni.bosch@upf.edu) and Joaquim Silvestre, University of California, Davis (jbsilvestre@ucdavis.edu) WORK IN PROGRESS. This draft: September 13, 2005 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Intergenerational justice when future worlds are uncertain

Let there be a positive (exogenous) probability that, at each date, the human species will disapp... more Let there be a positive (exogenous) probability that, at each date, the human species will disappear. We postulate an Ethical Observer (EO) who maximizes intertemporal welfare under this uncertainty, with expected-utility preferences. Various social welfare criteria entail alternative von Neumann-Morgenstern utility functions for the EO: utilitarian, Rawlsian, and an extension of the latter that corrects for the size of population. Our analysis covers, first, a cake-eating economy (without production), where the utilitarian and Rawlsian recommend the same allocation. Second, a productive economy with education and capital, where it turns out that the recommendations of the two EOs are in general different. But when the utilitarian program diverges, then we prove it is optimal for the extended Rawlsian to ignore the uncertainty concerning the possible disappearance of the human species in the future. We conclude by discussing the implications for intergenerational welfare maximization in the presence of global warming.

Research paper thumbnail of Reflections on Gains and Losses: Three Experiments

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Page 1. ABSTRACT “Reflections on Gains and Losses: Three Experiments” by Antoni Bosch-Domènech an... more Page 1. ABSTRACT “Reflections on Gains and Losses: Three Experiments” by Antoni Bosch-Domènech and Joaquim Silvestre Universitat Pompeu Fabra and University of California, Davis. We test whether risk attitudes change when losses instead of gains are involved. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Measuring risk aversion with lists: a new bias

Theory and Decision, 2013

Various experimental procedures aimed at measuring individual risk aversion involve a list of pai... more Various experimental procedures aimed at measuring individual risk aversion involve a list of pairs of alternative prospects. We first study the widely used method by , for which we find that the removal of some items from the lists yields a systematic decrease in risk aversion. This bias is quite distinct from other confounds that have been previously observed in the use of the Holt and Laury method. It may be related to empirical phenomena and theoretical developments where better prospects increase risk aversion. Nevertheless, we have also found that the more recent elicitation method due to , also based on lists, does not display any statistically significant bias when the corresponding items of the list are removed. Our results suggest that methods other than the popular Holt and Laury one may be preferable for the measurement of risk aversion.

Research paper thumbnail of Credit Constraints in General Equilibrium: Experimental Results*

The Economic Journal, 1997

Our work attempts to investigate the influence of credit tightness or expansion on activity and r... more Our work attempts to investigate the influence of credit tightness or expansion on activity and relative prices in a multimarket set-up. We report on some double-auction, two-market experiments where subjects had to satisfy an inequality involving the use of credit. The experiments display two regimes, characterised by high and low credit availability. Our main results are that changes in the availability of credit : (a) have minor and unsystematic effects on quantities and relative prices in the high-credit regime ; (b) have substantial effects, both on quantities and relative prices, in the low-credit regime.

Research paper thumbnail of Fixprice Analysis with Intermediate Goods

International Economic Review, 1983

1. INTRODUCTION We illustrate (Section 2) a peculiar fact which appears in Fixprice Theory only w... more 1. INTRODUCTION We illustrate (Section 2) a peculiar fact which appears in Fixprice Theory only when there are produced inputs: one may then find allocations which satisfy the usual definitions of Fixprice Equilibrium2 but where nevertheless profit incentives exist for using ...

Research paper thumbnail of Public ownership: Three proposals for resource allocation

Research paper thumbnail of Elicitation In the Lab. Does Embedding Matter?

Page 1. Elicitation in the lab. Does embedding matter? by Antoni Bosch-Domènech, Universitat Pomp... more Page 1. Elicitation in the lab. Does embedding matter? by Antoni Bosch-Domènech, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (antoni.bosch@upf.edu) and Joaquim Silvestre, University of California, Davis (jbsilvestre@ucdavis.edu) WORK IN PROGRESS. This draft: September 13, 2005 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Intergenerational justice when future worlds are uncertain

Let there be a positive (exogenous) probability that, at each date, the human species will disapp... more Let there be a positive (exogenous) probability that, at each date, the human species will disappear. We postulate an Ethical Observer (EO) who maximizes intertemporal welfare under this uncertainty, with expected-utility preferences. Various social welfare criteria entail alternative von Neumann-Morgenstern utility functions for the EO: utilitarian, Rawlsian, and an extension of the latter that corrects for the size of population. Our analysis covers, first, a cake-eating economy (without production), where the utilitarian and Rawlsian recommend the same allocation. Second, a productive economy with education and capital, where it turns out that the recommendations of the two EOs are in general different. But when the utilitarian program diverges, then we prove it is optimal for the extended Rawlsian to ignore the uncertainty concerning the possible disappearance of the human species in the future. We conclude by discussing the implications for intergenerational welfare maximization in the presence of global warming.

Research paper thumbnail of Reflections on Gains and Losses: Three Experiments

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Page 1. ABSTRACT “Reflections on Gains and Losses: Three Experiments” by Antoni Bosch-Domènech an... more Page 1. ABSTRACT “Reflections on Gains and Losses: Three Experiments” by Antoni Bosch-Domènech and Joaquim Silvestre Universitat Pompeu Fabra and University of California, Davis. We test whether risk attitudes change when losses instead of gains are involved. ...