Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311263 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of Risk and Uncertainty [ISSN:] 1573-0476 [Volume:] 66 [Issue:] 3 [Publisher:] Springer US [Place:] New York, NY [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 215-232
Publisher: 
Springer US, New York, NY
Abstract: 
In a seminal contribution, Thaler and Johnson ( 35 ) detected the existence of a house money effect which is defined as an increase in risk tolerance after previous gains resulting from a risky activity. Subsequent studies used the term house money effect also in case of windfall gains, i.e., easily acquired money like show-up fees or initial endowments in experiments which does not result from a risky investment. The present study is to the best of our knowledge the first that disentangles the house money effect and windfall gains. We find a clear and systematic pattern that windfall gains increase risk tolerance. In contrast, the house money effect is far less ubiquitous and seems to require skewed lotteries and/or a large number of rounds played. We, therefore, conclude that a careful distinction between windfall gains and the house money effect is warranted in future research.
Subjects: 
House money effect
Windfall gains
Risk aversion
Quasi-hedonic editing
Prospect theory
JEL: 
C91
D81
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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