Abigail is a consumer whose utility is a function of her total wealth W. u(W ) = log W. Suppose that Abigail begins with initial wealth of A = 100 but will suffer a serious illness with probability π = 0.15 which will require extensive treatment costing L = 80. To hedge against this risk, Abigail considers buying a health insurance policy. She may buy as much insurance I as she wishes at a cost of p per dollar of coverage, so her payoffs in each state are Healthy Ill Probability 0.85 0.15 No Insurance 100 20 Claim 0 I Premium −pI −pI a) Now suppose that the insurance company raises premiums to p = 0.2 so that they are no longer actuarially fair. Find Abigail’s expected wealth E[W ] and expected utility E[u(W )]. b) How much insurance should Abigail buy now?

Abigail is a consumer whose utility is a function of her total wealth W. u(W ) = log W. Suppose that Abigail begins with initial wealth of A = 100 but will suffer a serious illness with probability π = 0.15 which will require extensive treatment costing L = 80. To hedge against this risk, Abigail considers buying a health insurance policy. She may buy as much insurance I as she wishes at a cost of p per dollar of coverage, so her payoffs in each state are Healthy Ill Probability 0.85 0.15 No Insurance 100 20 Claim 0 I Premium −pI −pI a) Now suppose that the insurance company raises premiums to p = 0.2 so that they are no longer actuarially fair. Find Abigail’s expected wealth E[W ] and expected utility E[u(W )]. b) How much insurance should Abigail buy now?

Microeconomic Theory

12th Edition

ISBN:9781337517942

Author:NICHOLSON

Publisher:NICHOLSON

Chapter7: Uncertainty

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 7.1P

See similar textbooks

Similar questions

Priyanka has an income of £90,000 and is a von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility maximiser with von Neumann-Morgenstern utility index u(x) = square root x . There is a 1 % probability that there is flooding damage at her house. The repair of the damage would cost £80,000 which would reduce the income to £10,000. a) Would Priyanka be willing to spend £500 to purchase an insurance policy that would fully insure her against this loss? Explain
. Priyanka has an income of £90,000 and is a von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility maximiser with von Neumann-Morgenstern utility index u(x) √x . There is a 1 % probability that there is flooding damage at her house. The repair of the damage would cost £80,000 which would reduce the income to £10,000. a) Would Priyanka be willing to spend £500 to purchase an insurance policy that would fully insure her against this loss? Explain.
Consider two individuals whose utility function over wealth I is ?(?) = √?. Both people face a 10 percent chance of getting sick, and foreach the total cost of illness equals $50,000. Suppose person A has a total net worth of $100,000, and person B has a total net worth of $1,000,000. Both people have the option to buy an actuarially fair insurance contract that would fully insure them against the cost of the illness. a. Using expected utility calculations, show that person A would certainly buy full, actuarially fair insurance. b. Suppose an insurance company wants to maximize profits and wants to charge each customer the maximum price they are willing to pay. How much should the insurance company charge each client so that both buy the contract? c. What is surprising about your result in part b? What does this tell you about how insurance companies may be pricing health insurance contracts in the real world?
. Priyanka has an income of £90,000 and is a von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility maximiser with von Neumann-Morgenstern utility index . There is a 1 % probability that there is flooding damage at her house. The repair of the damage would cost £80,000 which would reduce the income to £10,000. a) Would Priyanka be willing to spend £500 to purchase an insurance policy that would fully insure her against this loss? Explain.
Leo owns one share of Anteras, a semiconductor chip company which may have to recall millions of chips. The stock currently trades at $100/share. Leo believes the probability that they have to recall the chips is 50%. If the chips have to be recalled, the stock price will be cut in half, but otherwise it will remain $100. The expected value of Leo's share is ______ Assume Leo has the utility function, U(X)=√X. The minimum price Leo would accept to sell his share is _______ Leo's risk premium is ________
. Priyanka has an income of £90,000 and is a von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility maximiser with von Neumann-Morgenstern utility index u(x) = square root x. There is a 1 % probability that there is flooding damage at her house. The repair of the damage would cost £80,000 which would reduce the income to £10,000. a) Would Priyanka be willing to spend £500 to purchase an insurance policy that would fully insure her against this loss? Explain. b) What would be the highest price (premium) that she would be willing to pay for an insurance policy that fully insures her against the flooding damage?
Consider the following claim: “If a decision maker prefers one given lottery that yields $x with probability 1 over another given lottery whose expected return is $x, then we can fully characterize the agent's risk attitude. That is, this information comparing two given lotteries is enough to determine if the decision maker is risk averse, risk loving or risk neutral.” If this claim is TRUE, then provide a proof. If it is FALSE, then prove your argument by providing an explanation.
Dr. Gambles has a utility function given as U(w)=In(w). Due to the pandemic affecting his consulting business, Dr Gambles faces the prospect of having his wealth reduced to £2 or £75,000 or £100,000 with probabilities of 0.15, 0.25, and 0.60, respectively. Suppose insurance is available that will protect his wealth from this risk. How much would he be willing to pay for such insurance?
Abigail is a consumer whose utility is a function of her total wealth W. u(W ) = log W. Suppose that Abigail begins with initial wealth of A = 100 but will suffer a serious illness with probability π = 0.15 which will require extensive treatment costing L = 80. To hedge against this risk, Abigail considers buying a health insurance policy. She may buy as much insurance I as she wishes at a cost of p per dollar of coverage, so her payoffs in each state are Healthy Ill Probability 0.85 0.15 No Insurance 100 20 Claim 0 I Premium −pI −pI a) Show that Abigail is risk averse. b) Suppose that the insurance premiums are actuarially fair so that p = 0. Find Abigail’s expected wealth E[W ] and expected utility E[u(W )] as functions of how much insurance she buys I. c) How much insurance should Abigail buy?
Gary likes to gamble. Donna offers to bet him $31 on the outcome of a boat race. If Gary’s boat wins, Donna would give him $31. If Gary’s boat does not win, Gary would give her $31. Gary’s utility function is p1x^21+p2x^22, where p1 and p2 are the probabilities of events 1 and 2 and where x1 and x2 are his wealth if events 1 and 2 occur respectively. Gary’s total wealth is currently only $80 and he believes that the probability that he will win the race is 0.3. Which of the following is correct? (please submit the number corresponding to the correct answer). Taking the bet would reduce his expected utility. Taking the bet would leave his expected utility unchanged. Taking the bet would increase his expected utility. There is not enough information to determine whether taking the bet would increase or decrease his expected utility. The information given in the problem is self-contradictory.
The von-Neumann Morgenstern utility function is of the form u(e) - In(e). There is a lottery over consumption outcomes: with probability 0.3, the consumption will be 1 and with probability 0.7 the consumption will be 3; Compute the risk premium (round to 2 decimals).
Tess and Lex earn $40,000 per year and all earnings are spent on consumption (c). Tess and Lex both have the utility function c. Both could experience an adverse event that results in earnings of $0 per year. Tess has a 1% chance of experiencing an adverse event and Lex has a 12% chance of experiencing an adverse event. Tess and Lex are both aware of their risk of an adverse event. 1. Suppose the actuarially fair premium charge is 2600, Calculate Tess’ expected utility with full insurance if she is charged the premium. Round to two decimal places. 2. What is the premium that private insurance companies will charge for full insurance? Round to two decimal places. 3.Assume the social welfare function is the sum of the Tess’ and Lex’s utility functions. Select the correct statement regarding the explanation for what has happened in the private market and the role of social insurance. a.Adverse section has lead to market failure. The government could improve social welfare by…