IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_9631.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Insurance for Catastrophes - Indemnity vs. Parametric Insurance with Imperfect Information

Author

Listed:
  • Eberhard Feess
  • Cathrin Jordan
  • Ilan Noy

Abstract

Insurance for natural hazards - earthquakes, hurricanes, or pandemics - is rarely comprehensively adopted without intense government intervention, and even then it is often only a minority of properties or businesses that are insured. Efforts to close this insurance gap include the introduction of parametric (index) insurance products for various catastrophic risks. We compare parametric to indemnity insurance in a simple model where the insurance company has superior information about the probability of the event (reversed asymmetric information). We find that indemnity insurance tends to be welfare superior, because the coverage provided to agents who underestimate the event probability is larger than with parametric cover. Since it could plausibly be argued that a majority of the population is underestimating the risks of many types of extreme events, this difference in social welfare is potentially substantial.

Suggested Citation

  • Eberhard Feess & Cathrin Jordan & Ilan Noy, 2022. "Insurance for Catastrophes - Indemnity vs. Parametric Insurance with Imperfect Information," CESifo Working Paper Series 9631, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9631
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp9631.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexis Louaas & Pierre Picard, 2023. "A pandemic business interruption insurance," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 48(1), pages 1-30, March.
    2. Arnold Chassagnon & Bertrand Villeneuve, 2005. "Optimal risk‐sharing under adverse selection and imperfect risk perception," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(3), pages 955-978, August.
    3. Bertrand Villeneuve, 2000. "The Consequences for a Monopolistic Insurance Firm of Evaluating Risk Better than Customers: The Adverse Selection Hypothesis Reversed," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 25(1), pages 65-79, June.
    4. Robert Hartwig & Greg Niehaus & Joseph Qiu, 2020. "Insurance for economic losses caused by pandemics," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 45(2), pages 134-170, September.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5367 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5357 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Meglena Jeleva & Bertrand Villeneuve, 2004. "Insurance contracts with imprecise probabilities and adverse selection," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 23(4), pages 777-794, May.
    8. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5358 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Carolyn Kousky & Helen Wiley & Len Shabman, 2021. "Can Parametric Microinsurance Improve the Financial Resilience of Low-Income Households in the United States?," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 301-327, October.
    10. Robert W. Klein & Harold Weston, 2020. "Government insurance for business interruption losses from pandemics: An evaluation of its feasibility and possible frameworks," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 401-440, December.
    11. Johannes Spinnewijn, 2013. "Insurance and Perceptions: How to Screen Optimists and Pessimists," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 123, pages 606-633, June.
    12. Robinson, Peter John & Botzen, W. J. Wouter & Kunreuther, Howard & Chaudhry, Shereen J., 2021. "Default options and insurance demand," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 39-56.
    13. Cuong Nhu Nguyen & Ilan Noy, 2020. "Measuring the impact of insurance on urban earthquake recovery using nightlights [Simple diagnostic tests for spatial dependence]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 857-877.
    14. Carolyn Kousky, 2018. "Financing Flood Losses: A Discussion of the National Flood Insurance Program," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 21(1), pages 11-32, March.
    15. Goetz von Peter & Sebastian von Dahlen & Sweta C Saxena, 2012. "Unmitigated disasters? New evidence on the macroeconomic cost of natural catastrophes," BIS Working Papers 394, Bank for International Settlements.
    16. Andreas Richter & Thomas C. Wilson, 2020. "Covid-19: implications for insurer risk management and the insurability of pandemic risk," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 45(2), pages 171-199, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. André Schmitt & Sandrine Spaeter, 2022. "Providing Pandemic Business Interruption Coverage with Double Trigger Cat Bonds," Working Papers of BETA 2022-05, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    2. Helmut Gründl & Danjela Guxha & Anastasia Kartasheva & Hato Schmeiser, 2021. "Insurability of pandemic risks," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 88(4), pages 863-902, December.
    3. Shi-jie Jiang & Feiyun Xiang & Iris Yang, 2023. "Effect of Prevention Focus on the Relationships Among Driving Accident History, Risk Perception, and Consumers’ Automobile Insurance Coverage Decisions," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, July.
    4. Alexis Louaas & Pierre Picard, 2023. "A pandemic business interruption insurance," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 48(1), pages 1-30, March.
    5. Arthur Snow, 2015. "Monopolistic Insurance and the Value of Information," Risks, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-13, July.
    6. Giuseppe, DE FEO & Jean, HINDRIKS, 2005. "Efficiency of Competition in Insurance Markets with Adverse Selection," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2005042, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
    7. Ruchi Avtar & Kristian S. Blickle & Rajashri Chakrabarti & Janavi Janakiraman & Maxim L. Pinkovskiy, 2023. "Understanding the Linkages between Climate Change and Inequality in the United States," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 29(1), pages 1-39, June.
    8. Iossa, Elisabetta & Martimort, David, 2015. "Pessimistic information gathering," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 75-96.
    9. Jasman Tuyon & Okey Peter Onyia & Aidi Ahmi & Chia-Hsing Huang, 2023. "Sustainable financial services: reflection and future perspectives," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(4), pages 664-690, December.
    10. Dionne, Georges & Fombaron, Nathalie & Doherty, Neil, 2012. "Adverse selection in insurance contracting," Working Papers 12-8, HEC Montreal, Canada Research Chair in Risk Management.
    11. Senara Eggleton & Özlem Gürses, 2023. "Reinsuring pandemics: the role of government and public–private partnerships between reinsurers and governments," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 48(3), pages 552-576, July.
    12. Timothy F. Harris & Aaron Yelowitz & Charles Courtemanche, 2021. "Did COVID‐19 change life insurance offerings?," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 88(4), pages 831-861, December.
    13. André Schmitt & Sandrine Spaeter, 2023. "Providing pandemic business interruption coverage with double trigger cat bonds," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 48(3), pages 687-713, July.
    14. Peter John Robinson & W. J. Wouter Botzen, 2022. "Setting descriptive norm nudges to promote demand for insurance against increasing climate change risk," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 47(1), pages 27-49, January.
    15. Robert W. Klein & Harold Weston, 2020. "Government insurance for business interruption losses from pandemics: An evaluation of its feasibility and possible frameworks," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 401-440, December.
    16. S. Hun Seog, 2009. "Insurance Markets With Differential Information," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 76(2), pages 279-294, June.
    17. Joseph Qiu, 2020. "Pandemic risk: Impact, modeling, and transfer," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 293-304, December.
    18. Kevin T. Smiley & Ilan Noy & Michael F. Wehner & Dave Frame & Christopher C. Sampson & Oliver E. J. Wing, 2022. "Social inequalities in climate change-attributed impacts of Hurricane Harvey," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    19. Lynn Conell‐Price & Carolyn Kousky & Howard Kunreuther, 2022. "Encouraging resiliency through autoenrollment in supplemental flood insurance coverage," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 89(4), pages 1109-1137, December.
    20. Susanna Levantesi & Gabriella Piscopo, 2021. "COVID-19 Crisis and Resilience: Challenges for the Insurance Sector," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(3), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    business interruption insurance; insurance for pandemics; parametric vs. indemnity insurance; reversed asymmetric information;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9631. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.