Are law-invariant risk functions concave on distributions?

Abstract

While it is reasonable to assume that convex combinations on the level of random variables lead to a reduction of risk (diversification effect), this is no more true on the level of distributions. In the latter case, taking convex combinations corresponds to adding a risk factor. Hence, whereas asking for convexity of risk functions defined on random variables makes sense, convexity is not a good property to require on risk functions defined on distributions. In this paper we study the interplay between convexity of law-invariant risk functions on random variables and convexity/concavity of their counterparts on distributions. We show that, given a law-invariant convex risk measure, on the level of distributions, if at all, concavity holds true. In particular, this is always the case under the additional assumption of comonotonicity.

Keywords

• convexity
• law-invariant risk measure
• convex order
• comonotonicity
• 46n10
• 60e15
• 91b30