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Heterogeneity and risk sharing in village economies
Author(s) -
Chiappori PierreAndré,
Samphantharak Krislert,
SchulhoferWohl Sam,
Townsend Robert M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
quantitative economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.062
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1759-7331
pISSN - 1759-7323
DOI - 10.3982/qe131
Subject(s) - consumption (sociology) , economics , risk aversion (psychology) , panel data , demographic economics , econometrics , expected utility hypothesis , financial economics , social science , sociology
We show how to use panel data on household consumption to directly estimate households' risk preferences. Specifically, we measure heterogeneity in risk aversion among households in Thai villages using a full risk‐sharing model, which we then test allowing for this heterogeneity. There is substantial, statistically significant heterogeneity in estimated risk preferences. Full insurance cannot be rejected. As the risk‐sharing as‐if‐complete‐markets theory might predict, estimated risk preferences are unrelated to wealth or other characteristics. The heterogeneity matters for policy: Although the average household would benefit from eliminating village‐level risk, less‐risk‐averse households that are paid to absorb that risk would be worse off by several percent of household consumption.

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