Some consumption opportunities are both indivisible and only valuable in particular tates of nature. The existence of such state-dependent indivisible consumption opportunities influences a person’s risk attitudes. In general, people are not risk averse anymore even if utility from divisible...

Some consumption opportunities, e.g. medical treatments, are both indivisible and only valuable in particular states of nature. The existence of such state-dependent indivisible consumption opportunities influences a person's risk attitudes. In general, people are not risk averse anymore even if...

I revisit the question of which motive underlies insurance demand. I draw on the literature of state-dependent utility and on the literature of imperfectly divisible consumption to argue that the general purpose of insurance is not a risk transfer, but meeting a conditional need. In this way,...

People exercising mental accounting have an additional motive for buying insurance. They perceive a risk of having insufficient funds available to self-insure. In this way insurance protects the consumption value of the insured asset beyond the expenditure to acquire/replace it. This complements...

The thesis comprises three essays on the reasons for and consequences of poorly-informed decision-making. Chapter 1 investigates active avoidance of information as a source of uninformed decision-making. Next to providing input for subsequent decisions information may trigger undesirable...

I explore the potential of an alternative insurance motive, the access motive, to better understand attitudes toward modest-risk insurance. I derive the value of partial insurance based on the access motive and show how it critically depends on the way in which the insurer pays benefits. I argue...