Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/iii/paper-23/1/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 23 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Risk aversion means that a sure mean is preferred to the corresponding risky portfolio wealth. An increasing concave utility function, with and , has this property by the Jensen inequality; strictly concave utility gives strict preference for nondegenerate risks. Differentiating the expected utility from part (a) givesAn interior optimum therefore satisfiesThis balances the expected loss of marginal utility in the good state against its expected gain in the bad state. The borrowing constraint also requires checking the endpoints: if , while would require . At both state wealths equal , soHence an optimum never puts all wealth into deposits. If , continuity and the displayed endpoint sign give an interior root, and concavity makes every such root globally optimal. Under strict concavity it is unique.
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