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Risk attitudes with state-dependent indivisibilities in consumption

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  • Fels, Markus

Abstract

Some consumption opportunities are both indivisible and only valuable in particular tates of nature. The existence of such state-dependent indivisible consumption opportunities influences a person's risk attitudes. In general, people are not risk averse anymore even if utility from divisible consumption is concave. I propose a definition of insurance in the context of state-dependent preferences and investigate the different motives underlying insurance demand. The same reasons that rule out risk aversion turn out to be the basis of a desire to insure. This calls into question the standard approach that bases insurance demand on risk aversion with important implications for policy and research.

Suggested Citation

  • Fels, Markus, 2019. "Risk attitudes with state-dependent indivisibilities in consumption," Ruhr Economic Papers 805, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:805
    DOI: 10.4419/86788933
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vasquez, Markus, 2017. "Utility of wealth with many indivisibilities," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 20-27.
    2. Markus Fels, 2020. "Mental Accounting, Access Motives, and Overinsurance," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(2), pages 675-701, April.
    3. Raj Chetty & Adam Szeidl, 2007. "Consumption Commitments and Risk Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 831-877.
    4. de Meza, David, 1983. "Health insurance and the demand for medical care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 47-54, March.
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    6. Rachel Huang & Larry Tzeng, 2006. "The design of an optimal insurance contract for irreplaceable commodities," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Theory, Springer;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 31(1), pages 11-21, July.
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    8. Ng Yew Kwang, 1965. "Why do People Buy Lottery Tickets? Choices Involving Risk and the Indivisibility of Expenditure," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(5), pages 530-530.
    9. Markus Fels, 2020. "Incentivizing efficient utilization without reducing access: The case against cost‐sharing in insurance," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(7), pages 827-840, July.
    10. Jones, Larry E., 2008. "A Note On The Joint Occurrence Of Insurance And Gambling," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 97-111, February.
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    12. Fels, Markus, 2016. "When the affordable has no value, and the valuable is unaffordable: The U.S. market for long-term care insurance and the role of Medicaid," Working Paper Series in Economics 84, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    13. Levon Barseghyan & Jeffrey Prince & Joshua C. Teitelbaum, 2011. "Are Risk Preferences Stable across Contexts? Evidence from Insurance Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(2), pages 591-631, April.
    14. Milton Friedman & L. J. Savage, 1948. "The Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 279-279.
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    Cited by:

    1. Markus Rieger‐Fels, 2024. "Why do people buy insurance? A modern answer to an old question," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 27(1), pages 89-114, April.
    2. Markus Fels, 2020. "Incentivizing efficient utilization without reducing access: The case against cost‐sharing in insurance," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(7), pages 827-840, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    risk preferences; indivisible consumption; insurance; gambling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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