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MONOPOLY INSURANCE AND ENDOGENOUS INFORMATION
Author(s) -
Lagerlöf Johan N. M.,
Schottmüller Christoph
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international economic review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.658
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1468-2354
pISSN - 0020-6598
DOI - 10.1111/iere.12268
Subject(s) - monopoly , microeconomics , information asymmetry , economics , business , actuarial science , insurance policy
Abstract We study a monopoly insurance model with endogenous information acquisition. Through a continuous effort choice, consumers can determine the precision of a privately observed signal that is informative about their accident risk. The equilibrium effort is, depending on parameter values, either zero (implying symmetric information) or positive (implying privately informed consumers). Regardless of the nature of the equilibrium, all offered contracts, also at the top, involve underinsurance, which discourages information gathering. We identify a missorting effect that explains why the insurer wants to discourage information acquisition. Moreover, lower information gathering costs can hurt both consumer and insurer.