Press release

Kagawa, Japan / 12, March, 2013

Dr. Yukio Yasui, the Editor in Chief of Journal of Ethology invited the following 2 papers by Dr. Jin Yoshimura (Faculty of Engineering, Shizuoka University, Japan) and coauthors with great confidence:

Dynamic decision-making in uncertain environments

  1. The principle of dynamic utility
    http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-013-0362-4
  2. Allais paradox in human behavior
    http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-013-0359-z
by Jin Yoshimura, Hiromu Ito, Donald G. Miller III and Kei-ichi Tainaka.

Summary:
In the resource acquisition of animals or economic behavior of humans, the activity itself results in the fluctuations of current energy reserve (human wealth). However, the traditional expected utility theory is applied to repeated activities, while assuming the current energy reserve or human wealth is constant over time. The current two papers show that under repeated long-term trials one should behave more conservatively than under a one-time gamble. This also presents the solution for the Allais paradox, where one will often choose an option with certainty even if its expected utility is lower than the uncertain option. These two papers should become a classic paper in behavioral biology and behavioral sciences as the first analytical (mathematical) optimization theory of dynamic behavior.

We hope any readers will take notice of these articles, which are freely available for everyone.

Yukio Yasui, Editor in Chief