Information Frictions and Adverse Selection: Policy Interventions in Health Insurance Markets

A-Tier
Journal: Review of Economics and Statistics
Year: 2019
Volume: 101
Issue: 2
Pages: 326-340

Authors (3)

Benjamin R. Handel (not in RePEc) Jonathan T. Kolstad (not in RePEc) Johannes Spinnewijn (London School of Economics (LS...)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Despite evidence that many consumers in health insurance markets are subject to information frictions, approaches used to evaluate these markets typically assume informed, active consumers. We develop a general framework to study insurance market equilibrium in the presence of choice frictions and evaluate key policy interventions. We identify sufficient relationships between the underlying distributions of consumer costs, surplus from risk protection, and choice frictions that determine the welfare impact of friction-reducing policies. We implement our approach empirically, showing how these key sufficient objects can be measured and the link between these objects and policy outcomes.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:tpr:restat:v:101:y:2019:i:2:p:326-340
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-29