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Cited by 707Decision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsHealthcare Policy and ManagementFinancial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 61 of the 61 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Adverse Selection and Inertia in Health Insurance Markets: When Nudging Hurts

Open access
Handel, Benjamin R·2013·American Economic Review
DOI 10.1257/aer.103.7.2643
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Abstract

This paper investigates consumer inertia in health insurance markets, where adverse selection is a potential concern. We leverage a major change to insurance provision that occurred at a large firm to identify substantial inertia, and develop and estimate a choice model that also quantifies risk preferences and ex ante health risk. We use these estimates to study the impact of policies that nudge consumers toward better decisions by reducing inertia. When aggregated, these improved individual-level choices substantially exacerbate adverse selection in our setting, leading to an overall reduction in welfare that doubles the existing welfare loss from adverse selection. (JEL D82, G22, I13)

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  1. Handel Benjamin R, 2013, American Economic Review. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer., 103, 2643, 10.1257/aer.103.7.2643 · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Handel, B. R.
Affiliations
University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author
Handel, Benjamin R
Venue
American Economic Review
Publisher
American Economic Association
Published
2013-12-01
Volume
103
Issue
7
Pages
2643-2682
ISSN
0002-8282 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1257/aer.103.7.2643
OpenAlex
W1994153666
Semantic Scholar
a3e7ff4d383529b4c8228a3ab62636acefbc2669
Cited by
707
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 47 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 70 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 71 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 73 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 67 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 15
FWCI
36.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Economic Review (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Healthcare Policy and Management
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Finance › Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
Keywords
adverse selection, consumer inertia, health insurance market, nudging, risk preferences, welfare loss, employer-sponsored health insurance, choice models
MeSH terms
Consumer Behavior, Health Benefit Plans, Employee, Health Maintenance Organizations, Humans, Insurance, Health, Preferred Provider Organizations, Insurance Selection Bias

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