Overconfidence, Insurance, and Paternalism

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2007
Volume: 97
Issue: 5
Pages: 1994-2004

Authors (2)

Alvaro Sandroni (not in RePEc) Francesco Squintani (University of Warwick)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

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

Abstract

It is well known that when agents are fully rational, compulsory public insurance may make all agents better off in the Rothschild and Stiglitz (1976) model of insurance markets. We find that when sufficiently many agents underestimate their personal risks, compulsory insurance makes low-risk agents worse off. Hence, behavioral biases may weaken some of the well-established rationales for government intervention based on asymmetric information. (JEL D82, G22)

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:97:y:2007:i:5:p:1994-2004
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29