arXiv 6 Mar 2026 · Econometrics
arXiv:2603.06820 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text
A utility function has been proposed that values more those lives that are saved by not imposing a harmful treatment and values less those lives that could be saved by treating people who would otherwise die. I do not dispute the ethical motivation behind this kind of asymmetry. However, as my example illustrates, the scope of applicability of such a decision criterion may be limited.
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The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.
| Reference | Intensity | Mentions | Sections | Main text | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben-Michael, Eli and Imai, Kosuke and Jiang, Zhichao (2024) Policy learning with asymmetric counterfactual utilities | 0.644 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| 2 | Gelman, Andrew and Mikhaeil, Jonas (2024) Russian roulette: Why you can have a deterministic potential-outcome framework, or an asymmetric utility function, but not both | 0.585 | 3 | 1 | 100% |
| 3 | Imbens, Guido W and Angrist, Joshua D (1994) Identification and estimation of local average treatment effects | 0.405 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 4 | Kahneman, Daniel and Tversky, Amos (1979) Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk | 0.405 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 5 | Christy, Neil and Kowalski, Amanda Ellen (2024) Starting small: prioritizing safety over efficacy in randomized experiments using the exact finite sample likelihood | 0.405 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 6 | Koch, Benedikt and Imai, Kosuke (2025) Statistical decision theory with counterfactual loss | 0.405 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 7 | Neyman, Jerzy (1923) On the application of probability theory to agricultural experiments. Essay on principles | 0.405 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 8 | Pearl, Judea (1999) Probabilities of causation: three counterfactual interpretations and their identification | 0.405 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 9 | Rubin, Donald B (1974) Estimating causal effects of treatments in randomized and nonrandomized studies. | 0.405 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 10 | Samuelson, William and Zeckhauser, Richard (1988) Status quo bias in decision making | 0.405 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Showing the top 10 of 11 scored citations.