Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/174976 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 6853
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This paper characterizes the optimal information structure in competitive insurance markets with adverse selection. A regulator assigns ratings to individuals according to their risk characteristics, insurers offer fixed insurance contracts to each rating group, and the market clears as in Akerlof (1970). The optimal rating system minimizes ex-ante risk subject to participation constraints. We prove that in any such market there exists a unique optimal system under which all individuals trade and the ratings match low risk types with high risk types negative assortatively. A simple algorithm yields the optimal system. We examine implications for government regulations of insurance markets.
Subjects: 
insurance markets
adverse selection
information design
JEL: 
D82
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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