Risk aversion with two risks: A theoretical extension

We identify new conditions ensuring risk aversion in the sense of Arrow-Pratt in a two-argument utility framework in which a financial risk is accompanied by a background risk. Our results generalize the findings of Finkelshtain et al. (1999). We consider a sequence of possible dependence among risks. We also provide an empirical example showing that second-order expectation dependence cannot be ignored in determining risk aversion with two risks.