Moral Hazard, Monitoring Costs, and Optimal Government Intervention.

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Risk and Uncertainty
Year: 1996
Volume: 12
Issue: 1
Pages: 77-90

Authors (2)

Bruce, Neil Wong, Kar-yiu (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

When insurance firms can monitor with non-prohibitive costs the consumption of risk-influencing goods by an insured, they have incentives to tax-subsidize the insured's consumption of the goods. If the government cannot monitor at a lower cost than private insurers, intervention is neither needed nor desirable. Where the government does have a monitoring-cost advantage, it cannot achieve a constrained optimum by commodity tax-subsidies alone. It must also augment the level of insurance and, in some cases, prohibit private tax-subsidies by insurers. Such "invasive" intervention can be avoided if the government regulates the consumption of the risk-influencing goods. Copyright 1996 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:kap:jrisku:v:12:y:1996:i:1:p:77-90
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24