insurance, Microeconomics

Assignment Help:
#question.Question: Answer all parts (a, b, c, d, e & f).

Consider the following insurance market. There are two states of the world, B and G, and two types of consumers, H and L, who have probabilities pH =0.5 and pL =0.25 (high and low risk) respectively of being in state B. They have common endowment e=(eG,eB) = (£900, £100). The individuals have expected utility preferences over state-contingent consumptions c=(cG,cB), with common utility function u(ci)=ln(ci), where i=B,G. Insurance firms are risk-neutral profit maximisers and offer contracts in exchange for the individuals’ endowments.

Suppose the market is competitive.

a) Outline the definition of a competitive equilibrium of this market and explain why every contract, offered by every firm, must earn zero profit in equilibrium. [7 marks]

b) Suppose the information concerning individuals’ types is symmetric, but void. It is commonly known, however, that the proportion of low risk consumers is 0.4. Derive the equilibrium set of contracts. [5 marks]

c) Find the equilibrium set of contracts when information is symmetric and perfect. [5 marks]

Now suppose that information is asymmetric; individuals know their own type but insurance firms cannot distinguish between types. (Note: there does exist an equilibrium set of contracts for this market. You may make use of this fact without proving it).

d) Explain why it must be that, if {cH,cL} is the equilibrium set of contracts, then
cH ? cL. [4 marks]

e) Explain and derive the equilibrium contract offered to high risk individuals. [3 marks]

f) Explain and derive the equilibrium contract offered to low risk individuals. [9 marks]

Related Discussions:- insurance

Economic models, the general characterictics of economic models,its limitat...

the general characterictics of economic models,its limitations and verification

Cost analysis, What is cost analysis? Cost–benefit analysis known as CBA, s...

What is cost analysis? Cost–benefit analysis known as CBA, sometimes known as benefit–cost analysis BCA, is a systematic process of calculating & comparing profit and costs of a pr

Economic analysis of asset replacements, An important aspect of municipal f...

An important aspect of municipal finance involves capital budgeting and resource allocation.  In some cases, resource allocations involve expenditures that are not directly revenue

Role of managerial economist, Explain the role of managerial ecnomist in ki...

Explain the role of managerial ecnomist in kissan &dipsy fro ub group

Find the marginal utilities, An individual derives utility from consuming g...

An individual derives utility from consuming goods X and Y according to the following estimated utility function U = 12X 2/3 Y ¼       X and Y are quantities (units) of

Components of cost, Normal 0 false false false EN-IN ...

Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Asian crisis, Asian Crisis: Between 1997-98, several of the East Asian tige...

Asian Crisis: Between 1997-98, several of the East Asian tiger economies suffered a severe economic and financial crisis. it had big consequences in the global financial markets, t

ELASTICITY, 2. Suppose the price of printing paper for digital cameras has ...

2. Suppose the price of printing paper for digital cameras has recently risen by 10 percent due to an increase in the cost of materials used in the finish for the paper. As a resu

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd