POOLING AND REDISTRIBUTION WITH MORAL HAZARD

We study a model in which risk-averse consumers obtain mutual insurance by participating voluntarily in pools. More precisely, consumers commit to contributing a fraction of their future uncertain endowment to a common pool. In exchange, they gain the right to receive a share of the total return of the pool, in proportion to their promises. Consumers influence the likelihood of the good state of nature by undertaking a hidden action. We therefore provide a model of mutual insurance with moral hazard. We first analyze the equilibrium properties of the model and then illustrate how an aggregate pool of heterogenous consumers Pareto dominates the two segregated pools.moral hazard, pool of promises, heterogeneous consumers

Migration and Social Insurance

A wide variety of social protection systems coexist within the EU. Some member states provide social insurance that is of Beveridgean inspiration (with universal and more or less flat benefits), while others offer a system that is mainly Bismarckian (with benefits related to past contributions). Labor mobility raises concerns about the sustainability of the most generous and redistributive (Beveridgean) insurance systems. We address this issue in a two-country setting, where individuals differ in mobility cost (attachment to their native country). A Bismarckian insurance system is not affected by migration while a Beveridgean one is. Our results suggest that the race-to-the-bottom affecting tax rates may be more important under Beveridge-Beveridge competition than under Beveridge-Bismarck competition. Finally, we study the strategic choice of the type of social protection. We show that Bismarckian governments may find it beneficial to adopt a Beveridgean insurance system.social insurance, tax competition, mobility, economic integration

Voluntary Public Health Insurance

We look at the consequences of allowing public health insurance (PuHI) to be voluntary when its coverage can be supplemented in the market. PuHI redistributes with respect to risk and income, and the market is affected by adverse selection. We argue that making PuHI voluntary does not lead to its collapse since there are always individuals participating in it. Additionally, in some cases, a voluntary PuHI scheme creates an increase in market efficiency because participation in it becomes a sign of an individual's type. The welfare consequences depend on the status quo. If in the status quo there is no political support for a compulsory PuHI, making it voluntary constitutes a Pareto improvement, and in some cases all individuals are strictly better off. If, instead, the status quo implements compulsory PuHI, making it voluntary then results in less redistribution

Are we doing enough to discourage early retirement?

Increasing the effective retirement age contributes to the sustainability of pension systems.\ud However, oftentimes policies aiming at rising employment rates of older workers fall short in\ud delaying retirement. This seems to be the case with retirement age flexibility reforms in Portugal.\ud We analyze the recent Portuguese history of incentives to retire. For 1990-2006 we find that\ud individuals faced very high implicit taxes on working with the result that half the workers had already left the labour force before age 65. We then look at the Social Security reforms in 2007 and find that the incentives to continue working became even smaller than they already were.\ud We conclude that increasing the labour supply of older workers in a system with flexible\ud retirement age needs policies with more aggressive use of penalties and bonuses than what\ud decision makers were willing to accept

Migration and Social Insurance

A wide variety of social protection systems coexist within the EU. Some member states provide social insurance that is of Beveridgean inspiration (with universal and more or less flat benefits), while others offer a system that is mainly Bismarckian (with benefits related to past contributions). Labor mobility raises concerns about the sustainability of the most generous and redistributive (Beveridgean) insurance systems. We address this issue in a two-country setting, where individuals differ in mobility cost (attachment to their native country). A Bismarckian insurance system is not affected by migration while a Beveridgean one is. Our results suggest that the race-to-the-bottom affecting tax rates may be more important under Beveridge-Beveridge competition than under Beveridge-Bismarck competition. Finally, we study the strategic choice of the type of social protection. We show that Bismarckian governments may find it beneficial to adopt a Beveridgean insurance system

Physical Activity and Policy Recommendations: a Social Multiplier Approach

We look at the effects of physical activity (PA) recommendation policies by considering a social multiplier model in which individuals differ in their concern for PA. The government can either observe this concern (and implement the First Best) or not (and implement a uniform policy). Whichever the type of policy implemented, while the welfare of individuals the most concerned with PA increases in the social multiplier, the welfare of those the least concerned may decrease in it. For a sufficiently high social multiplier, both government interventions improve the welfare of those most concerned with PA but worsen the welfare of the least concerned individuals if they are not too many. However, compared to the First Best, a uniform recommendation improves the welfare of those most concerned with PA more than it reduces the welfare of those least concerned

Earmarking and the political support of fat taxes

A fat and a healthy good provide immediate gratification, and cause health costs or benefits in the long run, which are misperceived. Additionally, the fat good (healthy good) increases (decreases) health care costs by increasing (decreasing) the probability of suffering from a chronic disease in the future. Individuals differ in income and in their degree of misperceptions concerning the health effects of the consumption of fat and of healthy goods. The level of the fat tax is determined through majority voting. Individuals vote according to their misperceived utility function. Consequently, excessive fat consumption is not due to a self-control problem but due to information deficiencies or cognitive inability to process information. A fraction of the fat tax proceeds is “earmarked” to reduce health insurance premiums while the remaining fraction finances a subsidy on the healthy good. This earmarking rule is determined at a constitutional stage to maximize utilitarian or Rawlsian welfare, anticipating the induced political equilibrium. We show that the fat tax in the political equilibrium is always lower than the utilitarian fat tax. This is no longer necessarily true with a Rawlsian objective. The determination of the optimal earmarking rule is quite complex. Even in the utilitarian case, it is not just used to boost political support for the fat tax. Instead, it may involve a tradeoff between the fat tax and the healthy good subsidy

Earmarking and the political support of fat taxes

A fat and a healthy good provide immediate gratification, and cause health costs or benefits in the long run, which are misperceived. Additionally, the fat good (healthy good) increases (decreases) health care costs by increasing (decreasing) the probability of suffering from a chronic disease in the future. Individuals differ in income and in their degree of misperceptions concerning the health effects of the consumption of fat and of healthy goods. The level of the fat tax is determined through majority voting. Individuals vote according to their misperceived utility function. Consequently, excessive fat consumption is not due to a self-control problem but due to information deficiencies or cognitive inability to process information. A fraction of the fat tax proceeds is “earmarked” to reduce health insurance premiums while the remaining fraction finances a subsidy on the healthy good. This earmarking rule is determined at a constitutional stage to maximize utilitarian or Rawlsian welfare, anticipating the induced political equilibrium. We show that the fat tax in the political equilibrium is always lower than the utilitarian fat tax. This is no longer necessarily true with a Rawlsian objective. The determination of the optimal earmarking rule is quite complex. Even in the utilitarian case, it is not just used to boost political support for the fat tax. Instead, it may involve a tradeoff between the fat tax and the healthy good subsidy

Health capital norms and intergenerational transmission of non-communicable chronic diseases

We look at how social norms regarding health aect the dynamics of an epidemic of NCDs. We present an overlapping generations model in which agents live for three periods (childhood, adulthood and old age). Adulthood consumption choices have a impact on the health capital of the following period, which is in part inherited by their ospring and aects their osprings' probability of developing a NCD. As a result of this intergenerational externality, agents would choose lower health conditions and higher unhealthy activities than that which is socially optimal. In addition, parental choices aect their own old age health capital with which their ospring compare their own. A social norm imposing agents to be as healthy as the previous generation balances the negative eects of unhealthy adulthood choices. Fiscal policies alone or combined with public policies regarding social norms can be used to restore optimality. Our results underline the interplay between sin taxes and health-related social norms

Efeitos da COVID-19 no marketing de museus de pequena escala

O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar medidas adotadas em museus de pequena escala durante os confinamentos motivados pela COVID-19, explorando tendências no regresso à normalidade. O decrescente interesse do público pelos museus e a tendência para a diminuição das visitas, trazem para o diálogo a necessidade de equacionar estratégias que pretendem reconectar as instituições museológicas com os públicos. Este estudo exploratório assenta em pesquisa qualitativa. A recolha de dados utiliza a entrevista semiestruturada junto de uma amostra intencionada, constituída por profissionais em museus de pequena escala, membros da Rede de Museus do Algarve. Os resultados permitem concluir que os profissionais entrevistados estão atentos a novas necessidades de interação com os seus públicos. A relevância das tecnologias e o fortalecimento das relações entre ambientes offline e online suscitam a necessidade de maior investimento em conteúdos digitais e a criação de novas plataformas. Além disso, a pandemia causada pela COVID-19 contribuiu para transformar e digitalizar os museus, atualizar formatos e discursos expositivos, interagir e comunicar com os visitantes em novos formatos. São discutidas sugestões para investigação futura, nomeadamente o interesse em aprofundar o conhecimento sobre a temática incluindo a perspetiva de públicos, com diferentes caraterísticas e distribuídos por meios online e offline. Estudos futuros devem também ser alargados a outras latitudes e tipologias de museus. Alavancado em lacunas identificadas na literatura, este estudo contribui para o conhecimento ao explorar as medidas adotadas durante os confinamentos motivados pela COVID-19 e tendências no regresso à normalidade em museus de pequena escala.This research aims to identify measures adopted in small-scale museums during the confinements motivated by COVID-19, exploring trends in return to normality. The public's decreasing interest in museums and the trend towards a decrease in the number of visits bring to the dialogue the need to design strategies that intend to reconnect museum institutions with the public. This exploratory study is based on qualitative research. Data collection uses a semi-structured interview with an intended sample of professionals in small-scale museums and members of the Algarve Museums Network. The results allow us to conclude that the professionals interviewed know new interaction needs with their audiences. The relevance of technologies and the strengthening of relationships between offline and online environments raise the need for greater investment in digital content and the creation of new platforms. In addition, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has contributed to transforming and digitizing museums, updating exhibition formats and discourses, and interacting and communicating with visitors in new formats. Suggestions for future research are discussed, namely the interest in deepening the knowledge on the subject, including the perspective of audiences, with different characteristics distributed by online and offline media. Future studies should also be extended to other latitudes and museum typologies. Leveraging gaps identified in the literature, this study contributes to knowledge by exploring the measures adopted during COVID-19 lockdowns and trends in return to normalcy in small-scale museums