Policy-Making and the Adaptability of Informal Institutions
研究风险规避个体在缺乏正式保险时形成的关系理论，发现减少总体风险在考虑内生网络反应后可能加剧不平等，对最风险规避者尤其有害。
This article discusses several of the insights generated by a theory of the formation of relationships between heterogeneously risk-averse individuals who lack access to formal insurance. An example illustrates the policy relevance of the theory, and demonstrates a relationship between the emergence of entrepreneurship in developing economies and higher income inequality. Reducing aggregate risk is a strict Pareto improvement if relationships in the status quo are assumed to remain constant, but is shown to be particularly harmful for the most risk-averse individuals and to exacerbate inequality when the endogenous network response is taken into account: the least risk-averse individuals abandon their roles as informal insurers in favor of entrepreneurial partnerships.