The SCOR-EGRIE Young Economist Award went to Lan ZOU of University of Gallen, Switzerland, for her paper “The impact of subsidies on deductible choice in health insurance”. The Selection Committee is comprised of Christophe Courbage, Professor of Economics (Geneva School of Business Administration), Elyès Jouini, Professors of economics (Université Paris-Dauphine), Philippe Trainar, Professor of Risk and Insurance (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers - Paris), Bertrand Villeneuve, Professors of economics (Université Paris-Dauphine), and Stéphane Villeneuve, professor of applied mathematics (Toulouse School of Economics).

The paper shows that subsidy levels significantly increase the take-up of the most generous coverage plans. When decomposing the effect into the income effect and the subsidy effect, it finds that, when facing financial constraints in the absence of subsidy, individuals increase their enrollment in the high-coverage plan. Overall, it confirms that the effect of financial constraints is substantial and that a provision of subsidy aid might be welfare increasing.

The award is organized under the aegis of the “Risk Markets and Value Creation” Chair, which brings together the SCOR Foundation for Science and the Toulouse School of Economics.

André Lévy-Lang, Chairman of the SCOR Foundation, comments: “This award demonstrates the vigor of the partnership between the Foundation and the Toulouse School of Economics with the SCOR-TSE “Risk Markets and Value Creation” chair. This year's award highlights the need to design government subsidies to insurance contracts well in relation to their objectives.”

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The European Group of Risk and Insurance Economists (EGRIE), created by the Geneva Association in 1973, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting research on risk and insurance. It notably publishes the Geneva Risk and Insurance Review and organizes scientific conferences.