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Adverse selection in annuity markets: Evidence from the British Life Annuity Act of 1808

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  • Rothschild, Casey G.

Abstract

We study adverse selection using data from an 1808 Act of British Parliament that effectively opened a market for life annuities. Our analysis indicates significant selection effects. The evidence for adverse selection is strongest for a sub-sample of annuitants whose annuities were purchased by profit-seeking speculators, a sub-sample in which "advantageous selection" resulting from multi-dimensional heterogeneity is unlikely to have been significant. These results support the view that adverse selection can be masked by advantageous selection in empirical studies of standard insurance markets.

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  • Rothschild, Casey G., 2009. "Adverse selection in annuity markets: Evidence from the British Life Annuity Act of 1808," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(5-6), pages 776-784, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:93:y:2009:i:5-6:p:776-784
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    Cited by:

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    2. Milevsky, Moshe A. & Salisbury, Thomas S., 2015. "Optimal retirement income tontines," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 91-105.
    3. Bucher-Koenen, Tabea & Kluth, Sebastian, 2013. "Subjective Life Expectancy and Private Pensions," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79806, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Philippe De Donder & Marie-Louise Leroux & François Salanié, 2022. "Advantageous selection without moral hazard (with an application to life care annuities)," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 2203, Chaire de recherche sur les enjeux économiques intergénérationnels / Research Chair in Intergenerational Economics.
    5. Bucher-Koenen, Tabea & Kluth, Sebastian, 2013. "Subjective Life Expectancy and Private Pensions," MEA discussion paper series 201214, Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
    6. Bütler, Monika & Peijnenburg, Kim & Staubli, Stefan, 2017. "How much do means-tested benefits reduce the demand for annuities?," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 419-449, October.
    7. Philippe De Donder & Marie-Louise Leroux & François Salanié, 2023. "Advantageous selection without moral hazard," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 21-43, August.
    8. Yikang Li & Casey Rothschild, 2020. "Selection and Redistribution in the Irish Tontines of 1773, 1775, and 1777," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(3), pages 719-750, September.
    9. Peijnenburg, Kim & Nijman, Theo & Werker, Bas J.M., 2016. "The annuity puzzle remains a puzzle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 18-35.
    10. Nan Zhu & Daniel Bauer, 2013. "Coherent Pricing of Life Settlements Under Asymmetric Information," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 80(3), pages 827-851, September.
    11. repec:mea:meawpa:12265 is not listed on IDEAS

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