On the inverse relationship between ex-ante and ex-post moral hazard: the case of smokers

Guido Citoni

No 15-041, Working Papers CEB from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Abstract: In the paper I start from the observation that smokers' use of services is less than expected and I suggest that this finding is coherent with an hypothesis: there is a psychological component, leading to increased/reduced consumption if the illness was not/was generated by ex-ante moral hazard.I illustrate the amount and significance of such psychological effect by estimating with Italian survey data, a consumption function for medical consultations and diagnostic screenings, in which smokers represent a group with high ex-ante moral hazard and low ex-post moral hazard, while former smokers have low ex-ante moral hazard and high ex-post moral hazard.The results confirm the theory, though in an asymmetric way: past smokers' consumption shows a strong and significant increase, while current smokers' reduction of use is lower and not always significant.

Keywords: smokers; past-smokers; health care consumption; moral hazard (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 13 p.
Date: 2015-01-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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