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Risk Aversion and the Willingness to Pay for Insurance: A Cautionary Discussion of Adverse Selection

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  • Joseph G. Eisenhauer

Abstract

Textbooks frequently describe adverse selection as an almost inevitable feature of insurance markets with heterogeneous buyers and asymmetric information. But if low‐risk applicants are more risk averse than their high‐risk counterparts, the former may be as willing or more willing than the latter to purchase insurance at any given price. The present article discusses this possibility in several forms suitable for different levels of instruction, to help bridge the gap between insurance education and current research on this topic.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph G. Eisenhauer, 2004. "Risk Aversion and the Willingness to Pay for Insurance: A Cautionary Discussion of Adverse Selection," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 7(2), pages 165-175, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rmgtin:v:7:y:2004:i:2:p:165-175
    DOI: j.1098-1616.2004.00043.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Cristina OTTAVIANI & Daniela VANDONE, 2011. "Decision-making under uncertainty and demand for insurance: an empirical study," Departmental Working Papers 2011-05, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    2. Coppola, Michela, 2014. "Eliciting risk-preferences in socio-economic surveys: How do different measures perform?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-10.
    3. Kunal Rajesh Lahoti & Shivani Hanji & Pratik Kamble & Kavita Vemuri, 2023. "Impact of Loss-Framing and Risk Attitudes on Insurance Purchase: Insights from a Game-like Interface Study," Papers 2310.13300, arXiv.org.
    4. 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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