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Resistance (to Fraud) Is Futile

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  • M. Martin Boyer

Abstract

This article studies a static principal–agent model of insurance fraud using a costly state verification approach. In an economy where there are two types of agents, the Truths, who always report the true state of the world, and the Dares, who dare misreport the true state of the world, I show that no separating contract exists. Furthermore, if the proportion of Dares is large enough, then the pooling contract, the amount of fraud and the number of agents found to have committed fraud are independent of the Dares' exact proportion in the economy. Finally, I show that investment in prevention can be useless if the proportion of Dares is large enough, which means that investing in prevention becomes a waste of resources. This last result holds when the proportion of Dares is large. When their proportion is small, investing in prevention reduces fraud.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Martin Boyer, 2007. "Resistance (to Fraud) Is Futile," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 74(2), pages 461-492, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jrinsu:v:74:y:2007:i:2:p:461-492
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6975.2007.00221.x
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    2. Pulina, Manuela & Paba, Antonello, 2010. "A discrete choice approach to model credit card fraud," MPRA Paper 20019, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Okura Mahito & Sakaki Motohiro & Yoshizawa Takuya, 2022. "A Game-Theoretic Analysis of the Sanctions for Breach of Duty to Disclose in Insurance Contracts: A Comparison of the “All or Nothing” and “Pro Rata” Methods," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(3), pages 255-276, December.
    4. Edward Peter Stringham, 2017. "The fable of the leeches, or: The single most unrealistic positive assumption of most economists," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(4), pages 401-413, December.
    5. Jing Ai & Patrick L. Brockett & Linda L. Golden & Montserrat Guillén, 2013. "A Robust Unsupervised Method for Fraud Rate Estimation," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 80(1), pages 121-143, March.
    6. M. Martin Boyer & Philippe d'Astous, 2023. "Tax compliance and firm response to electronic sales monitoring," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(4), pages 1430-1468, November.
    7. M. Martin Boyer & Richard Peter, 2020. "Insurance Fraud in a Rothschild–Stiglitz World," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(1), pages 117-142, March.
    8. Sunita Mall & Prasun Ghosh & Parita Shah, 2018. "Management of Fraud: Case of an Indian Insurance Company," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 7(3), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Edward Peter Stringham & J. R. Clark, 2020. "The crucial role of financial intermediaries for facilitating trade among strangers," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 349-361, September.

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