Insurance and Behavioral Economics

1. Purposes of this book; 2. An introduction to insurance in practice and theory; 3. Anomalies and rumors of anomalies; 4. Behavior consistent with benchmark models; 5. Real world complications; 6. Why people do or do not demand insurance; 7. Demand anomalies; 8. Descriptive models of insurance supply; 9. Anomalies on the supply side; 10. Design principles for insurance; 11. Strategies for dealing with insurance-related anomalies; 12. Innovations in insurance markets through multi-year contracts; 13. Publicly provided social insurance.

Howard Kunreuther is the James G. Dinan Professor of Decision Sciences and Business and Public Policy at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and co-director of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center. He has a long-standing interest in ways that society can better manage low-probability, high-consequence events. Dr Kunreuther is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Insurance and Asset Management for 2011-2012 and in 2009-2010 served as co-chair of the Forum's Global Agenda Council on Leadership and Innovation for Reducing Risks from Natural Disasters. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis, which honored him with a Distinguished Achievement Award in 2001. Mark Pauly is the Bendheim Professor in the Department of Health Care Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. One of the leading health economists of the United States, he is a former commissioner on the Physician Payment Review Commission and is a co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics and an associate editor of the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. Professor Pauly has served on Institute of Medicine panels on public accountability for health insurers under Medicare and on improving the financing of vaccines. He is a former member of the advisory committee to the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality and the Medicare Technical Advisory Panel. Stacey McMorrow is a research associate in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute, Washington, DC. She is currently leading a study of the effects of increased federal funding for community health centers on access to care for low-income individuals and has analyzed the potential impacts of the Affordable Care Act on small employers, individuals and families. Dr McMorrow's PhD dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania explored the

'For too many people insurance is a mystery not worth solving. The authors of Insurance and Behavioral Economics shed valuable light on insurance products and providers in an insightful examination for the benefit of consumers, analysts, and students of the business. Even the industry would be wise to study the authors' research, conclusions, and recommendations.' Franklin Nutter, President, Reinsurance Association of America 'A challenging and surprisingly engaging analysis of how insurance markets really function. You don't need to agree with all the analyses or recommendations - and I don't - to recognize that this book is going to be widely read and broadly influential among insurers and regulators.' Leigh Ann Pusey, President and CEO, American Insurance Association 'This book presents a brilliant analysis of the insurance industry as it exists today and will evolve tomorrow. Insurance is fundamental to everything we do: we can see in this book how we can make much better use of it, to improve all of our lives.' Robert Shiller, Yale University 'Insurance is a vital tool for managing risk, but it is misunderstood by consumers, regulators, and industry executives in ways that greatly reduce its effectiveness. In this superb book, Kunreuther, Pauly, and McMorrow employ insights from behavioral economics to clarify these misunderstandings and point the way toward more rational use of insurance to enhance individual and societal welfare.' Paul Slovic, University of Oregon and author of The Feeling of Risk 'Regulators and policy makers have long known that consumers often make seemingly irrational choices when it comes to insurance. Drawing on behavioral economics, the authors provide a framework to understand insurance market anomalies - in both demand and supply - and to evaluate alternative policy prescriptions. Their work is a significant contribution to the discussion on how to best structure insurance regulation to the benefit of consumers and society.' Terri M.