ABSTRACT
The Chinese word for risk, ‘wei ji’, combines the two characters meaning ‘danger’ and ‘oppor - tunity’. Another interpretation is ‘precarious moment’. Both translations show that risk is not a purely negative concept and that uncertainty involves a balance between profit and loss. A degree of risk is associated with almost every aspect of life. As observed by Adams (1995), if there is no uncertainty – if individuals know what an outcome will be – they are not dealing with risk in the first place.
