About a “Certain-uncertain” Inconsistency within the Generally Accepted Experimental Procedures of Behavioral Economics

Abstract

Old problems of the mathematical description of the economic behavior of a man are briefly reviewed. They are the comparison of choices of a man between uncertain and sure games and the radically different behavior of a man in different domains. The proposed solution of the problems consists of purely mathematical methods and models. They are briefly reviewed in the Appendix. In the present article, the main attention is paid to the analysis of the experimental support of this possible solution. The generally accepted random incentive experimental procedures are discussed. A “certain-uncertain” inconsistency between the certain type of choices and the uncertain type of incentives is revealed and analyzed.