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Pooling and Separating Equilibria in Insurance Markets with Adverse Selection and Distribution Costs*

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  • Marie Allard

    (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), 3000, chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3T 2A7.)

  • Jean-Paul Cresta

    (IDEI, GREMAQ, LEA (University of Toulouse le Mirail))

  • Jean-Charles Rochet

    (IDEI, GREMAQ, University of Toulouse I.)

Abstract

In the Rothschild-Stiglitz [1976] model of a competitive insurance market with adverse selection, pooling equilibria cannot exist. However in practice, pooling contracts are frequent, notably in health insurance and life insurance. This is due to the fact that distribution costs are nonnegligible and increase rapidly when more contracts are offered. We modify accordingly the Rothschild-Stiglitz model by introducing such distribution costs. We find that, however small these costs may be, they entail possible existence of pooling equilibria. Moreover, in these pooling equilibria, it is the high-risk individuals who are rationed, in the sense that they would be willing to buy more insurance at the current premium/insurance ratio. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Theory (1997) 22, 103–120. doi:10.1023/A:1008664000457

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Allard & Jean-Paul Cresta & Jean-Charles Rochet, 1997. "Pooling and Separating Equilibria in Insurance Markets with Adverse Selection and Distribution Costs*," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 22(2), pages 103-120, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:genrir:v:22:y:1997:i:2:p:103-120
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    Cited by:

    1. Dionne, G. & Doherty, N., 1991. "Adverse Selection In Insurance Markets: A Selective Survey," Cahiers de recherche 9105, Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en économie quantitative, CIREQ.
    2. Daniel McFadden & Carlos Noton & Pau Olivella, "undated". "Remedies for Sick Insurance," Working Papers 620, Barcelona School of Economics.
    3. Ramsay, Colin M. & Oguledo, Victor I. & Pathak, Priya, 2013. "Pricing high-risk and low-risk insurance contracts with incomplete information and production costs," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 606-614.
    4. Jim MacGee & Igor Livshits & Michele Tertilt, 2008. "Costly Contracts and Consumer Credit," 2008 Meeting Papers 385, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    5. Igor Livshits & James C. Mac Gee & Michèle Tertilt, 2016. "The Democratization of Credit and the Rise in Consumer Bankruptcies," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 83(4), pages 1673-1710.
    6. Jorge Lemus & Emil Temnyalov & John L. Turner, 2021. "Liability Insurance: Equilibrium Contracts under Monopoly and Competition," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 83-115, February.
    7. David Bardey & Philippe De Donder & Cesar Mantilla, 2014. "Adverse Selection vs Discrimination Risk with Genetic Testing. An Experimental Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 5080, CESifo.
    8. Henri Loubergé, 1998. "Risk and Insurance Economics 25 Years After," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 23(4), pages 540-567, October.
    9. Bardey, David & De Donder, Philippe & Mantilla, César, 2019. "How is the trade-off between adverse selection and discrimination risk affected by genetic testing? Theory and experiment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Willington Manuel & Alegría Alexander, 2012. "Collusion in a One-Period Insurance Market with Adverse Selection," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-32, April.
    11. Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Alfons Weichenrieder, 1999. "How Efficient is a Contestable Natural Monopoly?," CESifo Working Paper Series 186, CESifo.
    12. Yann Braouezec, 2015. "Public versus Private Insurance System with (and without) Transaction Costs: Optimal Segmentation Policy of an Informed monopolistPublic versus Private Insurance System with (and without) Transaction ," Working Papers 2013-ECO-23, IESEG School of Management, revised May 2014.
    13. Dionne, Georges & Fombaron, Nathalie & Doherty, Neil, 2012. "Adverse selection in insurance contracting," Working Papers 12-8, HEC Montreal, Canada Research Chair in Risk Management.

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