Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
移动应用销售渠道是否增强了保险普惠性？——来自重大疾病保险的证据
Does the mobile application sales channel strengthen insurance inclusion? Evidence from critical illness insurance
摘要
Mobile insurance is gaining increasing popularity in the global insurance industry. Using a unique data of a best-selling mobile cancer insurance product from a Chinese life insurer, this paper studies the relationship between mobile technology and insurance inclusion. We find that the introduction of the mobile application channel disproportionately increases the take-up of low-insured-amount policies relative to high-insured-amount policies. This inclusive effect toward small policies is driven mainly by newly attracted enrollees with lower-income characteristics. Mechanism analyses show that the mobile application channel reduces transaction costs and weakens offline intermediation frictions that otherwise disadvantage low-insured-amount customers. However, mobile insurance inclusion is regionally unequal due to the digital divide—it is stronger in more developed areas. We also find that the inclusive effect extends beyond policy take-up to after-purchase outcomes including claim and indemnity, thereby improving the welfare of low-insured-amount policyholders.
中文摘要
移动保险在全球保险业中日益普及。本文利用一家中国寿险公司一款畅销移动癌症保险产品的独特数据，研究移动技术与保险普惠之间的关系。我们发现，移动应用渠道的引入对低保额保单的购买产生了不成比例的提升作用，且这一作用相对于高保额保单更为显著。这种偏向小额保单的普惠效应，主要由新吸引来的具有低收入特征投保人驱动。机制分析表明，移动应用渠道降低了交易成本，并削弱了原本不利于低保额客户的线下中介摩擦。然而，由于数字鸿沟的存在，移动保险普惠在区域上并不均衡——在更发达地区作用更强。我们还发现，这种普惠效应不仅体现在保单购买上，还延伸至购买后的结果，包括理赔与赔付，从而改善了低保额保单持有人的福利。