Haze Pollution,Residents’ Risk Perception And The Demand For Commercial Health Insurance In China

Since the reform and opening up,China’s industry has developed continuously,the economic level has increased day by day,and the income of residents has increased continuously.However,behind the economic development is the continuous emission of industrial pollutants at the expense of the environment,resulting in serious haze pollution in China.With the increasing haze pollution,the health status of residents has declined and the burden of medical costs has increased.In this context,residents’ demand for commercial health insurance is increasing,which correspondingly increases the public health cost.In 2010,the World Health Organization calculated in the "global disease burden assessment" project that more than one million Chinese people died prematurely due to haze pollution.In the same year,Baidu Encyclopedia began to appear the word "" and many media informed the damage of haze pollution to human health and possible diseases through various channels.The problem of haze pollution began to attract extensive attention of the society.At the same time,with the rise of residents’ income level,the improvement of education level,the government’s policy support for the insurance industry and the publicity of the insurance industry,the public began to consciously avoid health risks by purchasing insurance.At present,the development of China’s medical system is not perfect.It can only ensure the basic medical services of the public,and can not meet the diversified medical needs of different income groups.At this time,with the strong support of the government and the effective promotion of the Internet,commercial health insurance has become an important supplementary part of the medical insurance system to further improve China’s medical system.In this context,this thesis attempts to study and analyze the impact of haze pollution and residents’ risk perception on the development of commercial health insurance in China,strive to improve insurance products,and put forward policy suggestions.Based on the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2006 to 2019,this thesis makes an empirical analysis by establishing fixed effect model,differential generalized moment estimation model and system generalized moment estimation model,trying to explore the relationship between haze pollution,residents’ risk perception and China’s commercial health insurance demand.Then,the spatial Dobbin model is established to study the impact of the spatial spillover effect of haze pollution in different regions on the development of commercial health insurance in other regions.Through empirical research,the conclusions are as follows:(1)Haze pollution has no significant impact on the current demand for commercial health insurance,but it has a significant positive role in promoting the health demand of the lagging phase of commercial health insurance;(2)Haze pollution has a significant spatial spillover effect on the development of commercial health insurance,and haze pollution in other regions will promote the development of commercial health insurance in this region;(3)There is a lag effect in residents’ risk cognition.In the short term,residents may take other measures to manage risks,but in the long run,with the improvement of residents’ education and higher awareness of risks,the demand for insurance will increase;(4)Areas with high education level will have higher demand for commercial health insurance,and the negative information of haze pollution will improve residents’ risk awareness level,which will further stimulate residents’ demand for commercial health insurance.Through the results of empirical analysis,the author puts forward the following suggestions:(1)Government departments and social media should strengthen education and publicity,improve residents’ awareness of risk dispersion and deepen the awareness of commercial health insurance protection;(2)An insurance company shall,in view of the current situation of regional environmental pollution,develop characteristic and differentiated insurance products to meet the insurance protection needs of different individuals.