Risk attitudes in large stake gambles: evidence from a game show

Abstract

This article estimates the degree of risk aversion of contestants appearing on ‘Vas o No Vas’, the Mexican version of ‘Deal or No Deal’. We consider both dynamic agents, who fully backward induct and myopic agents that only look forward one period. Further, we vary the level of forecasting sophistication by the agents. We find substantial evidence of risk aversion, the degree of which is more modest than what is typically reported in the literature.