Loss Aversion leading to Advantageous Selection
نویسنده
چکیده
Some insurance markets are characterized by “advantageous selection”, that is, ex-post risk and coverage are negatively correlated. We show that expectation-based loss aversion as in Kőszegi and Rabin (2006, 2007) provides a natural explanation for this phenomenon when agents face modest-scale risks. More exposure to risk has two competing effects on an agent’s willingness to pay for insurance: a positive effect, as in standard expected utility models; and a negative one, due to a reference effect. We determine conditions under which an insurance provider optimally sets a high price at which only low risk agents buy.
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