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

Exchange rate policy, Exchange Rate Policy: LERMS, a dual exchange ra...

Exchange Rate Policy: LERMS, a dual exchange rate system, was introduced in the Budget for 1992-93. Under this system, 40 per cent of foreign exchange earnings were to be sur

find the equilibrium quantity and demand curve, Consider a non-renewable r...

Consider a non-renewable resource. There are two periods, now and later. The demand curve in each period (t = 1, 2) is Qt = 10 - Pt. The stock of the resource is 10 units. Extracti

Explain how a perfact market responds to changes in consumer, explain how a...

explain how a perfact market responds to changes in consumer demand?

Economic acivity, The prevention of major swings in economic activity can b...

The prevention of major swings in economic activity can be handled most easily by the

Explain features of outward-oriented and inward-oriented, The main features...

The main features of outward-oriented and inward-oriented development strategies. Inward- oriented as focus on reducing domestic reliance on imports by executing high barrier

Expected value, Expected Value - The weighted average of payoffs or val...

Expected Value - The weighted average of payoffs or values resulting from all the possible outcomes. The probabilities of every outcome are used as weights Expected

Satisfy the linear relationship, Let {(y i * ; x i ); 1 ≤ i ≤ n} be an i.i....

Let {(y i * ; x i ); 1 ≤ i ≤ n} be an i.i.d sequence of random variables where y i * and x i satisfy the linear relationship y i * = β 0 + β 1 x i + ∈ i with Cov(x i ; ∈

Fiscal policy, 3. Which of the following would not be an expansionary fisca...

3. Which of the following would not be an expansionary fiscal policy? a.Increased welfare payments to the poor b.Decreases in federal taxes on corporations c.A balanced budget d.I

Water resources , Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-...

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

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