Ralph is choosing whether to purchase health insurance. Here are the features that define his situation: He currently has $20,000 in initial wealth and faces a 2% chance of a serious illness that will cost $8,000 to cure. (He therefore simultaneously faces

Microeconomic Theory
12th Edition
ISBN:9781337517942
Author:NICHOLSON
Publisher:NICHOLSON
Chapter7: Uncertainty
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 7.4P
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a. Ralph is choosing whether to purchase health
insurance. Here are the features that define his
situation:
He currently has $20,000 in initial wealth and
faces a 2% chance of a serious illness that will cost
$8,000 to cure. (He therefore simultaneously faces
a 98% chance that he won't face harm.)
He has the option to purchase an insurance policy
for the price of $1,000. If he purchases insurance
and gets ill, his insurance company will
compensate him for the $8,000 cost of the cure.
His utility function for money is U(M) = M.
He has the option to not purchase insurance, but
he must pay a fine of $X if he chooses to go
uninsured.
a. Set up the equation (but do not solve it) to
find the amount of the fine (X) that makes him
indifferent between purchasing insurance and
going uninsured.
b.True or false, and explain: According to
Seabright, because of information asymmetries
between consumers and sellers, consumers
have to put in a lot of time and effort to ensure
that sellers are trustworthy.
Transcribed Image Text:a. Ralph is choosing whether to purchase health insurance. Here are the features that define his situation: He currently has $20,000 in initial wealth and faces a 2% chance of a serious illness that will cost $8,000 to cure. (He therefore simultaneously faces a 98% chance that he won't face harm.) He has the option to purchase an insurance policy for the price of $1,000. If he purchases insurance and gets ill, his insurance company will compensate him for the $8,000 cost of the cure. His utility function for money is U(M) = M. He has the option to not purchase insurance, but he must pay a fine of $X if he chooses to go uninsured. a. Set up the equation (but do not solve it) to find the amount of the fine (X) that makes him indifferent between purchasing insurance and going uninsured. b.True or false, and explain: According to Seabright, because of information asymmetries between consumers and sellers, consumers have to put in a lot of time and effort to ensure that sellers are trustworthy.
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