Air Pollution,Health Capital And Commercial Health Insurance Demand

In the context of increasingly serious air pollution problems,when the public perceives the health risks caused by it,they will be willing to purchase commercial health insurance for risk management.At the same time,air pollution will also have a certain impact on residents’ health capital,thus affecting their own risk decision-making.Therefore,in addition to exploring the direct impact of air pollution on the demand for commercial health insurance,this thesis also studies the role of health capital in it,aiming at promoting the development of commercial health insurance.In view of this,this article first analyzes the current development status of air pollution and commercial health insurance in China,laying the foundation for future research;Secondly,the relationship between air pollution,health capital,and commercial health insurance demand is demonstrated using environmental stress theory,Lewin’s field theory,and the Grossman health demand model;Thirdly,using the CHFS data from 2015 to 2019,we established a panel probit model and a panel Tobit model to study the relationship between air pollution and the demand for commercial health insurance,and used health capital as an intermediary variable to test the impact mechanism.We draw the following conclusions:(1)Air pollution has a significant positive effect on the demand for commercial health insurance.After using the instrumental variable method,the conclusion is still valid;(2)Health capital is an important way for air pollution to increase the demand for commercial health insurance;(3)There are significant differences in the impact of air pollution on the demand for commercial health insurance in China for different ages and health levels.Finally,based on the research findings,this article proposes suggestions from both the government and insurance companies:(1)The government should encourage the development of commercial health insurance,improve the air pollution control system,increase remediation efforts,and accurately distinguish the population,strengthen publicity and education;(2)Insurance companies should improve the pricing model of commercial health insurance,achieve scientific and reasonable pricing,strengthen health management,provide health value-added services,and increase innovation to promote the diversification of commercial health insurance products.