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Copyright © Cambridge Political Economy Society
research-article |
Clarifying Frank Knight's discussion of the meaning of risk and uncertainty

Girton College and New Hall Cambridge
Abstract
Frank Knight's (1921) famous distinction between risk and uncertainty has entered the jargon of economics and decision theory. Yet it appears to have gone unnoticed that his formulation suffers from an elementary confusion. This note locates the source of the problem and proposes a reformulation that avoids it.
Manuscript received July 1, 1996; final version received July 9, 1997.