HETEROGENEITY IN STATE‐DEPENDENT UTILITY: EVIDENCE FROM STRATEGIC SURVEYS
通过新型调查方法，发现个体在健康状态下的边际消费效用存在显著异质性，且这种差异与标准控制变量无关；不同残疾类型对状态依赖的影响也不同。
Abstract A standard result of life‐cycle models under uncertainty is that optimizing individuals equate the expected marginal utility of consumption across states of the world if insurance is available at actuarially fair rates. A small empirical literature has suggested that the marginal utility of consumption is lower in less healthy states. We use a novel survey‐based measure to document significant heterogeneity in health‐state dependence across individuals largely orthogonal to standard controls. We further show that individuals value unhealthy states of the world more when facing work‐limiting disabilities than when facing disabilities requiring long‐term care, and when facing physical rather than mental disabilities.