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A continuous model of income insurance

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  • Assar Lindbeck
  • Mats Persson

Abstract

In this paper we treat an individual’s health as a continuous variable, in contrast to the traditional literature on income insurance, where it is assumed that the individual is either able or unable to work. A continuous treatment of an individual’s health sheds new light on the role of income insurance and makes it possible to capture a number of real-world phenomena that are not easily captured in the traditional, dichotomous models. In particular, we show that moral hazard is not necessarily outright fraud, but a gradual adjustment of the willingness to work, depending on preferences and the conditions stated in the insurance contract. Further, the model can easily encompass phenomena such as administrative rejection of claims, and it clarifies the conditions for the desirability of insurance in the first place. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Assar Lindbeck & Mats Persson, 2013. "A continuous model of income insurance," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(6), pages 938-960, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:20:y:2013:i:6:p:938-960
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-012-9253-9
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    1. Assar Lindbeck & Sten Nyberg & Jörgen W. Weibull, 1999. "Social Norms and Economic Incentives in the Welfare State," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 1-35.
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    12. Rees, Ray & Wambach, Achim, 2008. "The Microeconomics of Insurance," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 4(1–2), pages 1-163, February.
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    18. Lindbeck, Assar & Persson, Mats, 2006. "A Model of Income Insurance and Social Norms," Working Paper Series 659, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    19. Zweifel, Peter, 2007. "The Theory of Social Health Insurance," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 3(3), pages 183-273, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andersson, Fredrik W. & Bokenblom, Mattias & Brantingson, Staffan & Brännström, Susanne Gullberg & Wall, Johan, 2011. "Sick listing—Partly a family phenomenon?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 496-502.
    2. Calmfors, Lars, 2010. "Fiscal Policy Coordination in Europe," Seminar Papers 765, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    3. Assar Lindbeck & Mårten Palme & Mats Persson, 2016. "Sickness Absence and Local Benefit Cultures," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 118(1), pages 49-78, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Moral hazard; Disability insurance; Sick pay; Work absence; Tax wedge; G22; H53; I38; J21;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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