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

Why have these economies converged, Why Have These Economies Converged? ...

Why Have These Economies Converged? By and large economies which have converged are those which belong to OECD: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that w

Pure monopoly, Pure Monopoly: Pure monopoly examined the market struct...

Pure Monopoly: Pure monopoly examined the market structure that is generally regarded as the polar opposite of perfect competition – i.e. the monopoly model. Like the perfect

Price mechanism, use of diagram how the price mechanism operates to allocat...

use of diagram how the price mechanism operates to allocate scarce resources. use examples to illustrate the answer.

Definition of labour force, Q. Definition of labour force? Labour Force...

Q. Definition of labour force? Labour Force:Total population of working-age people who are willing and able to work and who thus have ‘entered' labour market. Labour force incl

Cost curves, what are the various types of cost curves?

what are the various types of cost curves?

Transfer payments, Transfer Payments: Governments typically redistribute a ...

Transfer Payments: Governments typically redistribute a share of tax revenues back to specified groups of individuals in form of several social programs (like welfare benefits, pub

Demand and supply curve with externalities, # 1 Question: Consider a compet...

# 1 Question: Consider a competitive market for Berries. The market demand for the berries is Qd=50-P (Qd is the quantity demanded (cartons) and P is the price in $. The market sup

Gasoline rationing, Gasoline Rationing - In the year 1974 and again in ...

Gasoline Rationing - In the year 1974 and again in the year 1979, the government imposed price controls on gasoline. - This resulted in scarcity and gasoline was rationed.

Expanding healthcare infrastructure, what is the demand when expanding heal...

what is the demand when expanding healthcare infrastructure?

Market or equilibrium price - demand and supply, Suppose the total demand f...

Suppose the total demand for wheat and the total supply of wheat per month in a market are as follows: a. What will be the market or equilibrium price? What is the equilibrium q

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