Does inequality impede risk management? Evidence from a lab experiment in Ghana

Low income households in agrarian developing economies face considerable livelihood risks, which have negative impacts on welfare. A growing literature focuses on internal constraints on development, which can negatively affect saving and investment behavior. Here Gallenstein proposes that internal constraints may also hinder risk management. Specifically, he presents a theoretical model that explores how fairness preferences may create an internal constraint on risk sharing, particularly in a context of wealth inequality, and thereby also affect demand for formal insurance. To test this theory, he utilizes a lab experiment, conducted in Ghana, to investigate the impact of wealth inequality on utilization of risk-management tools, interpersonal risk sharing and formal insurance, and explore how fairness preferences may mediate this effect. He finds that inequality reduces risk sharing and increases demand for insurance. Moreover, he finds suggestive evidence that fairness preferences create an internal constraint on risk sharing under inequality.

Read the paper in Journal of Risk and Insurance.