Drivers of Switching in Autoinsurance: Evidence from Observable and Exogenous Consideration Sets

Helena Perrone and Fabricio Valiati

No 20707, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: This paper studies switching behavior and its determinants in auto-insurance markets using a dataset that includes information on policyholder choices and their consideration sets, including alternative contract prices. We show that disregarding consumers’ consideration sets and the price of alternative offers, especially the premium offered by the previous insurance at renewal, leads to an overestimation of choice inertia and an understatement of consumer price responsiveness. We also find that previous claim history is a primary determinant of switching behavior, even after controlling for premium differentials and observed and unobserved characteristics of the contract and insurers. Our empirical evidence is consistent with choice inertia driven by learning about the true quality of the firm’s service.

JEL-codes: D12 D83 L1 L5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10
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