<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22standard%20gamble%22&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C5&amp;as_ylo=1800&amp;as_yhi=1972" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Using Google Scholar's advanced search with the publication date filters</a> turns up a number of sources prior to 1972. Note that not all of the results are actually published before 1972 as some of the dates on Google Scholar are wrong. However there are certainly a number of sources from the 1960s that use the term &quot;standard gamble&quot; (apparently in the same sense). The earliest publication date on Google Scholar appears to be 1962 (<a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/254601" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Situation and the Opportunistic Executive</a>). I don't have access to this article but the Google Scholar preview says &quot;using the von Neumann-Morgenstern standard gamble&quot;. There is also an article from 1963 and a few from 1964.</p>
<p>It is also worth noting that &quot;standard lottery&quot; and &quot;standard gamble&quot; are synonymous. In footnote 11, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2489851" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this 1963 source</a> cites von-Neumann and Morgenstern (in particular, their 1947 book &quot;Theory of Games and Economic Behavior&quot;) as the origin of the idea  and terminology &quot;standard lottery&quot; (footnote 11 also cites <a href="https://archive.org/details/introductiontost00schl/page/40/mode/2up" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this introductory textbook from 1961</a> where you will find a discussion of the &quot;standard lottery&quot;).</p>

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2024-12-11T13:20:03.723Z
2024-12-12T14:04:18.610Z
2024-12-12T14:04:18.610Z
smcc
<p>The standard gamble method of eliciting healthcare related utility values was presented by <a href="https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/5559/1/fulltext.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Torrance in his PhD thesis</a> dated back to 1971.</p>
<p>Another reference I have for it - and the related term &quot;paired gamble&quot; - is the review paper of Farquhar on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.30.11.1283" rel="nofollow noreferrer">utility assessment methods (1984)</a>.</p>
<p>I would therefore like to ask if anyone is aware of concrete references to the term standard gable in the microeconomics or related fields literature <em>prior to</em> 1971.</p>

<microeconomics><utility><economic-terms>
History of the term "standard gamble"
Nikolaos
# History of the term "standard gamble"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-12-11)

The standard gamble method of eliciting healthcare related utility values was presented by [Torrance in his PhD thesis](https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/5559/1/fulltext.pdf) dated back to 1971.

Another reference I have for it - and the related term "paired gamble" - is the review paper of Farquhar on [utility assessment methods (1984)](https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.30.11.1283).

I would therefore like to ask if anyone is aware of concrete references to the term standard gable in the microeconomics or related fields literature *prior to* 1971.

**Tags:** microeconomics, utility, economic-terms

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-12-11. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

[Using Google Scholar's advanced search with the publication date filters](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22standard%20gamble%22&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_ylo=1800&as_yhi=1972) turns up a number of sources prior to 1972. Note that not all of the results are actually published before 1972 as some of the dates on Google Scholar are wrong. However there are certainly a number of sources from the 1960s that use the term "standard gamble" (apparently in the same sense). The earliest publication date on Google Scholar appears to be 1962 ([The Situation and the Opportunistic Executive](https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/254601)). I don't have access to this article but the Google Scholar preview says "using the von Neumann-Morgenstern standard gamble". There is also an article from 1963 and a few from 1964.

It is also worth noting that "standard lottery" and "standard gamble" are synonymous. In footnote 11, [this 1963 source](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2489851) cites von-Neumann and Morgenstern (in particular, their 1947 book "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior") as the origin of the idea and terminology "standard lottery" (footnote 11 also cites [this introductory textbook from 1961](https://archive.org/details/introductiontost00schl/page/40/mode/2up) where you will find a discussion of the "standard lottery").


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