IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mil/wpdepa/2011-05.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Decision-making under uncertainty and demand for insurance: an empirical study

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina OTTAVIANI
  • Daniela VANDONE

Abstract

In this study we empirically estimated the role played by attitudes toward risk in insurance decision-making. To this end, we used the Iowa Gambling Task coupled with skin conductance recording, a validated experimental task of decision making under ambiguity which provides two dimensions of risk taking: the performance at the risk, as a measure of risk propensity, and the functioning of the somatic marker, as a measure of risk perception, that is the ability of the individual to “feel” the risk, independently of his/her risk attitude. The sample was made by 445 households and demographic-socio economical profiles were also obtained. Aside from confirming the role played by socio-economic explanatory variables, such as income level and marital status, on insurance purchase, results from the probit model showed the relevance of psychophysiological data: the likelihood of insurance demand is higher for people who are more risk seeking (worse performance at the task) but are adaptively able to feel the risk (anticipatory skin conductance responses to disadvantageous decks). Results are discussed in light of the need of interdisciplinary research.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:mil:wpdepa:2011-05
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wp.demm.unimi.it/files/wp/2011/DEMM-2011_005wp.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hazen, Gordon B & Lee, Jia-Sheng, 1991. "Ambiguity Aversion in the Small and in the Large for Weighted Linear Utility," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 177-212, April.
    2. Kaïs Dachraoui & Georges Dionne & Louis Eeckhoudt & Philippe Godfroid, 2004. "Comparative Mixed Risk Aversion: Definition and Application to Self-Protection and Willingness to Pay," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 261-276, December.
    3. Donghui Li & Fariborz Moshirian & Pascal Nguyen & Timothy Wee, 2007. "The Demand for Life Insurance in OECD Countries," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 74(3), pages 637-652, September.
    4. Enrico Rubaltelli & Rino Rumiati & Paul Slovic, 2010. "Do ambiguity avoidance and the comparative ignorance hypothesis depend on people’s affective reactions?," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 243-254, June.
    5. Bernheim, B Douglas, 1991. "How Strong Are Bequest Motives? Evidence Based on Estimates of the Demand for Life Insurance and Annuities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(5), pages 899-927, October.
    6. 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.
    7. Emily Norman Zietz, 2003. "An Examination of the Demand for Life Insurance," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 6(2), pages 159-191, September.
    8. Neilson, William S, 2002. "Comparative Risk Sensitivity with Reference-Dependent Preferences," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 131-142, March.
    9. Dionne, Georges & Eeckhoudt, Louis, 1985. "Self-insurance, self-protection and increased risk aversion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 39-42.
    10. Szpiro, George G, 1986. "Measuring Risk Aversion: An Alternative Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 68(1), pages 156-159, February.
    11. Yijia Lin & Martin F. Grace, 2007. "Household Life Cycle Protection: Life Insurance Holdings, Financial Vulnerability, and Portfolio Implications," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 74(1), pages 141-173, March.
    12. Alan J. Auerbach & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1989. "How Rational Is the Purchase of Life Insurance?," NBER Working Papers 3063, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. McGuire, Martin C & Pratt, John & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1991. "Paying to Improve Your Chances: Gambling or Insurance?," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 329-338, December.
    14. Robert B. Barsky & F. Thomas Juster & Miles S. Kimball & Matthew D. Shapiro, 1997. "Preference Parameters and Behavioral Heterogeneity: An Experimental Approach in the Health and Retirement Study," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 112(2), pages 537-579.
    15. Hemenway, David, 1992. "Propitious Selection in Insurance," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 247-251, July.
    16. Hogarth, Robin M & Kunreuther, Howard, 1989. "Risk, Ambiguity, and Insurance," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 5-35, April.
    17. Lewis, Frank D, 1989. "Dependents and the Demand for Life Insurance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 452-467, June.
    18. Hoy, Michael & Robson, Arthur J., 1981. "Insurance as a Giffen good," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 47-51.
    19. Charles Mason & Jason Shogren & Chad Settle & John List, 2005. "Investigating Risky Choices Over Losses Using Experimental Data," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 187-215, September.
    20. Sarah Jacobson & Ragan Petrie, 2009. "Learning from mistakes: What do inconsistent choices over risk tell us?," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 143-158, April.
    21. Fortune, Peter, 1973. "A Theory of Optimal Life Insurance: Development and Tests," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 28(3), pages 587-600, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Luisa ANDERLONI & Daniela VANDONE, 2011. "Vulnerabilità e benessere delle famiglie italiane," Departmental Working Papers 2011-40, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.

    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. J. Francois Outreville, 2014. "Risk Aversion, Risk Behavior, and Demand for Insurance: A Survey," Journal of Insurance Issues, Western Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 37(2), pages 158-186.
    2. Subir Sen & S Madheswaran, 2013. "Regional determinants of life insurance consumption: evidence from selected Asian economies," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University, vol. 27(2), pages 86-103, November.
    3. Song, In Jung & Park, Heejung & Park, Narang & Heo, Wookjae, 2019. "The effect of experiencing a death on life insurance ownership," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 170-176.
    4. Emily Norman Zietz, 2003. "An Examination of the Demand for Life Insurance," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 6(2), pages 159-191, September.
    5. Jiang Cheng & Lu Yu, 2019. "Life and health insurance consumption in China: demographic and environmental risks," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 44(1), pages 67-101, January.
    6. J. François Outreville, 2013. "The Relationship Between Insurance and Economic Development: 85 Empirical Papers for a Review of the Literature," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 16(1), pages 71-122, March.
    7. J. François Outreville, 2015. "The Relationship Between Relative Risk Aversion And The Level Of Education: A Survey And Implications For The Demand For Life Insurance," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 97-111, February.
    8. Subir Sen, 2008. "An Analysis Of Life Insurance Demand Determinants For Selected Asian Economies And India," Working Papers 2008-036, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    9. Ning Wang, 2019. "The demand for life insurance in a heterogeneous-agent life cycle economy with joint decisions," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 44(2), pages 176-206, September.
    10. J. François Outreville, 2011. "The relationship between insurance growth and economic development - 80 empirical papers for a review of the literature," ICER Working Papers 12-2011, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    11. Martin Eling & Shailee Pradhan & Joan T Schmit, 2014. "The Determinants of Microinsurance Demand," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 39(2), pages 224-263, April.
    12. Hun Seog, S. & Hong, Jimin, 2022. "Market insurance and endogenous saving with multiple loss states," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    13. Ning Wang, 2023. "A dynamic analysis of the demand for life insurance during the 2008 financial crisis: evidence from the panel Survey of Consumer Finances," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 48(4), pages 733-759, October.
    14. Norma B. Coe & Anek Belbase & April Yanyuan Wu, 2016. "Overcoming Barriers to Life Insurance Coverage: A Behavioral Approach," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 19(2), pages 307-336, September.
    15. Alhassan, Abdul Latif & Biekpe, Nicholas, 2016. "Determinants of life insurance consumption in Africa," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 17-27.
    16. Waheed Akhter & Saad Ullah Khan, 2017. "Determinants of Takāful and conventional insurance demand: A regional analysis," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1291150-129, January.
    17. Wang, Hongyang & Zhang, Dayong & Guariglia, Alessandra & Fan, Gang-Zhi, 2021. "‘Growing out of the growing pain’: Financial literacy and life insurance demand in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    18. Wang, Qian & Wang, Jun & Gao, Feng, 2021. "Who is more important, parents or children? Economic and environmental factors and health insurance purchase," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    19. Jindapon, Paan, 2013. "Do risk lovers invest in self-protection?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 290-293.
    20. Rajat Deb & Kanchan Kumar Nath & Mukesh Nepal & Sourav Chakraborty & Kiran Sankar Chakraborty, 2021. "Do People Choose Life Insurance for Protection or for Saving?," Metamorphosis: A Journal of Management Research, , vol. 20(1), pages 35-44, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Insurance demand; decision making; ambiguity; risk taking; Iowa gambling task;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles

    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:mil:wpdepa:2011-05. 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: DEMM Working Papers (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/damilit.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.