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Competitive Screening in Insurance Markets with Endogenous Wealth Heterogeneity

Author

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  • Nick Netzer

    (Socioeconomic Institute, University of Zurich)

  • Florian Scheuer

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

We examine equilibria in competitive insurance markets with adverse selection when wealth differences arise endogenously from unobservable savings or labor supply decisions. The endogeneity of wealth implies that high risk individuals may ceteris paribus exhibit the lower marginal willingness to pay for insurance than low risks, a phenomenon that we refer to as irregular-crossing preferences. In our model, both risk and patience (or productivity) are privately observable. In contrast to the models in the existing literature, where wealth heterogeneity is exogenously assumed, equilibria in our model no longer exhibit a monotone relation between risk and coverage. Individuals who purchase larger coverage are no longer higher risks, a phenomenon frequently observed in empirical studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Nick Netzer & Florian Scheuer, 2009. "Competitive Screening in Insurance Markets with Endogenous Wealth Heterogeneity," SOI - Working Papers 0907, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich, revised Jun 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:soz:wpaper:0907
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Pau Olivella & Fred Schroyen, 2014. "Multidimensional Screening in a Monopolistic Insurance Market," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 39(1), pages 90-130, March.
    3. Scheuer, Florian, 2013. "Adverse selection in credit markets and regressive profit taxation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(4), pages 1333-1360.
    4. Carvajal, Andrés & Thereze, João, 2023. "Insurance contracts and financial markets," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 8-19.
    5. Boone, Jan, 2018. "Basic versus supplementary health insurance: Access to care and the role of cost effectiveness," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 53-74.
    6. Michele Sennhauser, 2009. "Why the Linear Utility Function is a Risky Choice in Discrete-Choice Experiments," SOI - Working Papers 1014, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich.
    7. Schottmüller, Christoph, 2015. "Adverse selection without single crossing: Monotone solutions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 158(PA), pages 127-164.
    8. Jing Ai & Lin Zhao & Wei Zhu, 2016. "Contracting with Present-Biased Consumers in Insurance Markets," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 41(2), pages 107-148, September.
    9. Rachel J. Huang & Arthur Snow & Larry Y. Tzeng, 2017. "Advantageous Selection in Insurance Markets with Compound Risk," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Theory, Springer;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 42(2), pages 171-192, September.
    10. Rachel J. Huang & Alexander Muermann & Larry Y. Tzeng, 2016. "Hidden Regret In Insurance Markets," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 83(1), pages 181-216, January.
    11. Cremer, Helmuth & Roeder, Kerstin, 2013. "Long-term care policy, myopia and redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 33-43.
    12. Polk, Andreas & Schmutzler, Armin & Müller, Adrian, 2014. "Lobbying and the power of multinational firms," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 209-227.
    13. Boone, J., 2014. "Basic versus Supplementary Health Insurance : The Role of Cost Effectiveness and Prevalence," Discussion Paper 2014-065, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    14. Castro-Pires, Henrique & Moreira, Humberto, 2021. "Limited liability and non-responsiveness in agency models," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 73-103.
    15. Sandroni, Alvaro & Squintani, Francesco, 2013. "Overconfidence and asymmetric information: The case of insurance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 149-165.
    16. Boone, J., 2014. "Basic versus Supplementary Health Insurance : The Role of Cost Effectiveness and Prevalence," Other publications TiSEM be4cbf5b-f13b-460a-a9cc-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Maurus Rischatsch, 2009. "Simulating WTP Values from Random-Coefficient Models," SOI - Working Papers 0912, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich.
    18. Chen, Bingzheng & Feng, Frank Y. & Powers, Michael R. & Qiu, Joseph, 2019. "Risk-revealing contracts for government-sponsored microinsurance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    19. Maurus Rischatsch & Maria Trottmann, 2009. "Physician dispensing and the choice between generic and brand-name drugs – Do margins affect choice?," SOI - Working Papers 0911, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich.
    20. Christina Aperjis & Filippo Balestrieri, 2017. "Loss aversion leading to advantageous selection," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 203-227, December.
    21. Leon Chen & Puneet Jaiprakash, 2017. "An Insurance Market Simulation With Both Adverse and Advantageous Selection," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 20(1), pages 133-146, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Insurance Markets; Adverse Selection; Multidimensional Screening;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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