The Structure of Preferences and Attitudess towards the Timing of the Resolution of Uncertainty

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the phenomenon of preference for timing in the temporal resolution of uncertainty and its implications for the structure of utility functionals defined on multiperiod consumption programs. Several postulates concerning attitudes towards timing are stated using a new definition of timing premium for early resolution of uncertainty. The analysis provides an axiomatic basis for the specifications of expected utility and the more general weighted utility and implicit weighted utility functionals in temporal models. Copyright 1989 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.