Preservation and exogenous uncertain future preferences

Summary. We extend the Beltratti, Chichilnisky and Heal's (1993) and (1998) continuous-time stochastic dynamic framework to analyze the optimal depletion of an asset whose consumption is irreversible, in the face of uncertainty about future preferences. Their model is rather general and so the results are general qualitative theorems. We show that in some interesting cases it is possible to solve their model analytically. The cases involve constant elasticity utility functions and the assumption of a Poisson process for the evolution of preferences. Received: September 13, 1999; revised version: November 23, 1999