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Subjective expected utility: A review of normative theories

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Abstract

This paper reviews theories of subjective expected utility for decision making under uncertainty. It focuses on normative interpretations and discusses the primitives, axioms and representation-uniqueness theorems for a number of theories. Similarities and differences among the various theories are highlighted. The interplay between realistic decision structures and structural axioms that facilitate mathematical derivations is also emphasized.

The review attempts to be complete up to 1980. Among others, it includes theories developed by Ramsey; Savage; Suppes; Davidson and Suppes; Anscombe and Aumann; Pratt, Raiffa and Schlaifer; Fishburn; Bolker; Jeffrey; Pfanzagl; Luce and Krantz.

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  1. Bell Laboratories, New Jersey, USA

    Peter C. Fishburn

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Fishburn, P.C. Subjective expected utility: A review of normative theories. Theor Decis 13, 139–199 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00134215

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