The family of skew-symmetric distributions is a wide set of probability density functions obtained by suitably combining a few components which can be quite freely selected provided some simple requirements are satisfied. Although intense recent work has produced several results for certain sub-families of this construction, much less is known in general terms. The present paper explores some questions within this framework, and provides conditions for the above-mentioned components to, ensure that the final distribution enjoys specific properties
We introduce a rationality principle for a preference relation ~< on an arbitrary set of lotteries. Such a principle is a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of an expected utility agreeing with ~<. The same principle also guarantees a rational extension of the preference relation to any larger set of lotteries. When the extended relation is unique with respect to the alternatives under consideration, the decision maker does not need a numerical evaluation in order to make a choice. Such a rationality condition needs little information in order to be applied, and its verification amounts to solving a linear system.
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