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, insurance aligns the risk in one's ftnancial endowment with the risk in …

In this paper we analyze insurance demand when the utility function depends both upon final wealth and the level of … documented in real insurance markets. …