Sure things-Dominance and independence rules for choice under uncertainty

The primary purpose of this paper is to show that differences between models of choice under uncertainty may be derived primarily from different assumptions about the ‘appropriate’ ways in which states of the world may be compared and combined. It considers different concepts of stochastic dominance arising from different permitted transformations on the ordering of prizes during a comparison of two lotteries. These concepts imply various forms of the Independence axiom and correspond to various non-expected utility theories.