Past exam of the MSc in advanced computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2022 / Computational game theory / 1 / b

Write $A$ and $B$ for the two deterministic outcomes. Under the expected utility hypothesis, indifference between them implies $u(A)=u(B)=c$. The expected utility of the fair lottery is consequentlyIt must therefore be indifferent to each deterministic outcome, contradicting the asserted strict preference. These preferences do not admit an expected utility representation over the stated outcomes. Equivalently, affine utility on probability measures preserves this indifference under mixing, as required by the independence axiom for lottery preferences.

A concern for the fairness of the procedure can be perfectly intelligible. It would require enlarging the outcome description to include the procedure; it cannot be represented by an expected utility over only the two final gift recipients while retaining the stated strict preference.