This paper estimates the effect of participating in the optional tariff "Premium Refund", an implicit optional deductible tariff, on different measures of medical demand. Specifically, it analyzes whether participating in the tariff can reduce ex-post moral hazard. Therefore, I use panel data...

To equalize differences in health plan premiums due to differences in risk pools, German legislature introduced a simple Risk Adjustment Scheme (RAS) based on age, gender and disability status in 1994. In addition, effective 1996, consumers gained the freedom to choose among hundreds of existing...

It is commonly known that irresponsible alcohol use can have adverse effects. For some people it results in health problems, for others in productivity loss, and some experience the worst possible outcome of alcohol misuse: death. This paper estimates the effect of reduced alcohol sales hours on...

We analyze individuals with heterogeneous time-inconsistent preferences that consume sin goods and make a savings decision. A government may tax the sin good and provide mandatory health insurance. Due to time-inconsistency, the individual sin good and savings choices in ict internalities. Due...

Quality report cards addressing information asymmetry in the health care market have become a popular strategy used by policymakers to improve the quality of care for elderly. Using individual level data from the largest German sickness fund merged with institutional level data, we examine the...

An allocation rule that prioritizes registered donors increases the willingness to register for organ donation, as laboratory experiments show. In public opinion, however, this priority rule faces repugnance. We explore the discrepancy by implementing a vote on the rule in a donation experiment,...

Illegal activities harm individuals and society as a whole. Besides the physical harm and immediate wealth loss, crime can entail more subtle, long-lasting consequences, namely, impaired mental health. This article presents significant evidence that the surge of crime rates in Mexico contributed...

While risk selection within the German public health insurance system has received considerable attention, risk selection between public and private health insurers has largely been ignored. This is surprising since - given the institutional structure - risk selection between systems is likely...

We exploit a policy change in Sweden to estimate the effect of copayments on the demand for children's and adolescents' usage of medical care. To this end, we use population-wide registry data including detailed characteristics of individuals and their medical visits. We examine whether the...