Foundations of Multiattribute Utility

Reviews / Votes

'Ali E. Abbas' new book on utility theory is a comprehensive treatment ranging from simple distinctions about facing uncertainty to general multiattribute utility theory. Beginning with a general approach to MAU, it then specializes to show how popular versions, such as additive utility, are actually very restrictive and other simple approaches, such as additive value functions with risk aversion, are much more general. He derives the complete forms of multiattribute utility functions having additive value functions. With utility transversality, he also demonstrates that there is only one dimension of risk attitude, as the value function translates risk attitude across dimensions. Abbas's book promises to be the standard reference work for decades to come.' Jim Matheson, Chairman and CFO, SmartOrg, Inc. 'Foundations of Multiattribute Utility provides a much-needed update, a comprehensive structure, and indeed a vision for a field that has blossomed in the forty years since Keeney and Raiffa's Decisions with Multiple Objectives. The book synthesizes recent results by others and by the author, including an elegant copula representation. Thanks to the book's accessible style - which even includes Socratic dialogues - readers will appreciate its place within the rich mathematics of preference and economic utility theory and the rich practice of decision analysis. The book offers many rewards for modelers in these fields, while for researchers it is required reading.' Jeffrey M. Keisler, University of Massachusetts, Boston 'The definitive work on preference, value, and utility that can serve the full range of decision situations. If you need to tackle a complex multiattribute preference problem, the answer is in this book. Ali E. Abbas has created a great text of a graduate course and a valuable reference for the practitioner.' Carl Spetzler, Strategic Decisions Group and author of Decision Quality 'In Foundations of Multiattribute Utility, Ali E. Abbas has brought together divergent themes of research in decision-making with multiple objectives into a single, coherent whole. This book can serve as an introduction for decision-makers who want to think carefully about making trade-offs. It is also a reference for researchers who want to understand the latest developments in the field. I know I will be keeping this book close at hand in my office for years to come.' Jason Merrick, Virginia Commonwealth University 'This book is a long overdue. It is encyclopedic in nature, chronicling many recent developments in utility theory, while summarizing the classical results in the field. The book is a perfect companion to Keeney and Raiffa's (1976) seminal book on multiattribute utility. It should be on the desk of any decision analyst, economist, or statistician who does research in or teaches utility theory.' Kenneth C. Lichtendahl, Jr, University of Virginia