Microeconomics, Microeconomics

Assignment Help:
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:- Microeconomics

Describe the role of capital in modern productive system, Production withou...

Production without capital is hard for us even to imagine. Nature cannot furnish goods and materials to man unless he has the tools and machinery for mining farming forestry fishin

Macroecon, How might a “perfect” macro equilibrium be affected by (a) a sto...

How might a “perfect” macro equilibrium be affected by (a) a stock market crash; (b) the death of a president; (c) a recession in Canada; (d) a spike in oil prices?

Explain about demand - constrained, Q. Explain about Demand - Constrained? ...

Q. Explain about Demand - Constrained? Demand-Constrained: An economy is demand-constrained when level of output and employment is limited by the amount of overall demand (or s

Steam question, Processors of aseptically packaged juice-based beverages mu...

Processors of aseptically packaged juice-based beverages must adequately heat their product before packaging it in order to be sure that they have “killed” the microorganisms which

Equilibrium exchange rate, Equilibrium Exchange Rate: The theory of ex...

Equilibrium Exchange Rate: The theory of exchange rate determination explains how demand and supply of foreignexchange interact and jointly determine the equilibrium exchange

Long run average cost (lac), Long Run Average Cost (or LAC) -Constant R...

Long Run Average Cost (or LAC) -Constant Returns to Scale If the input is doubled, the output will double and average cost is constant at all the levels of output.

What are the property rights in the process of development, Explain the imp...

Explain the importance of well-established property rights in the method of development. Definition of property rights should not begin and end with owning land and buildings b

Implications of failures of policy implementation, IMPLICATIONS OF FAILURE...

IMPLICATIONS OF FAILURES OF POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: Given the phenomenon of policy failures, as indicated above, one often comes across the view that places the blame for these

Demand and supply components of the sector, The objective of the Government...

The objective of the Government of Mauritius, as announced in the Budget Speech 2007/2008, is to target 2 million tourists by 2015. (a) Critically assess whether the target of

Subsitution and income effect, subsitution effect dominate tha income effec...

subsitution effect dominate tha income effect in which good case?

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