Health Section Behavioral Finance Subgroup
"Behavioral finance is a relatively new field that seeks to combine behavioral and cognitive psychological theory with conventional economics and finance to provide explanations for why people make irrational financial decisions." Source: Investopedia .
Welcome to the resource page for the Behavior Finance Subgroup. Whether estimating the effect of cost sharing provisions, health and wellness incentives, or market reaction to new product designs, actuaries must often make assumptions about the behavior of people. Our subgroup reviews literature, proposes studies, and compares notes on the applicability of behavioral finance to the purchase and use of health insurance and healthcare services. We translate our findings into articles, presentations, or summary material that is then made available to the SOA membership.
If you would like to join the subgroup, please visit the SOA Public Listserv Page. There is a monthly conference call for this subgroup on the 2nd Thursday of each month from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Central, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please email Leslie Smith at lsmith@soa.org for dial in instructions.
If you have questions about this subgroup, please contact Christopher Coulter at actuarychris@gmail.com.
KEY BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS RESOURCES
Below is a listing of resources we recommend for actuaries who want to learn about behavioral economics. Click on the type of resource to reveal a list of resources.
Updated: January 15, 2016
Download an Excel version of the resources which contains an updated list of resources and additional information beyond what is listed below.
Article
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year |
Annuities | The VA Behavior System: Coping with Complex Interactions in Annuity Policyholder Behavior | Sarfatti, Aaron and David Jaffe | Risk Management Newsletter - August 2013 | 2013 |
ERM | Behavioral Economics and Its Implications for Enterprise Risk Management | Gorvett, Rick | ERM Symposium - Call Paper | 2012 |
ERM | Behavioral Economics: Implications for Actuarial Science and Enterprise Risk Management | Wheeler, David | Forecasting & Futurism Newsletter - July 2013 | 2013 |
General | Psychology and economics: evidence from the field | DellaVigna, S. | Journal of Economic Literature, 47 (2). | 2009 |
General | Asymmetric discounting in intertemporal choice: a query-theory account | Weber, E. U., Johnson, E. J., Milch, K. F., Chang, H., Brodscholl, J. C., & Goldstein, D. G. | Psychol Sci, 18 (6), 516-523. | 2007 |
General | The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice | Tversky and Kahneman | Science | 1981 |
General | Behavioral Finance Concepts for Actuaries | Stark, John W. | Health Watch - Jan. 2014 | 2014 |
General | Controlling Our Behavior | Griffin, Mark | The Actuary - Feb./Mar. 2015 | 2015 |
General | New Behavioral Finance Subgroup | Stark, John W. | Health Watch - Jan. 2013 | 2013 |
General | Behavioral Economics | Mullainathan, S. and R. H. Thaler | 2001 | |
Health | Health Insurance Coverage Take-UP: Lessons from Behavioral Economics | Baicker, K; Congdon, W; Mullainathan, S | The Milbank Quarterly | 2012 |
Investments | Behavioral Finance | George, Douglas A. | Risks and Rewards - Oct. 2003 | 2003 |
Modeling | Behavioral Simulations Using agent-based modeling to understand policyholder behaviors (Part 1 of 2) | Lombardi, Paich, and Rao | Product Matters - June 2014 | 2014 |
Modeling | Behavioral Simulations Using agent-based modeling to understand policyholder behaviors (Part 2 of 2) | Lombardi, Paich, and Rao | Product Matters - Oct. 2014 | 2014 |
Prospect Theory | Thirty Years of Prospect Theory in Economics: A Review and Assessment. | Barberis, Nicholas | Journal of Economic Perspectives | 2013 |
Retirement | Actuaries Need to Pay Attention to Behavioral Research and Finance | Pension Section News - Sept. 2013 | Rappaport & Burke | 2013 |
Audio
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year |
Health | Behavioral Finance for Health Actuaries | Christopher James Coulter, ASA, CERA, MAAA; Daniel S. Pribe, FSA, MAAA; John W. C. Stark, FSA, CERA, MAAA | SOA Health Meeting - Session 22 | 2014 |
Book
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year |
Game Theory | Game Theory for Applied Economists | Gibbons, Robert | Princeton University Press | 1992 |
Game Theory | Behavioral game theory: experiments in strategic interaction | Camerer, C. | New York, N.Y.; Princeton, N.J.: Russell Sage Foundation; Princeton University Press, | 2003 |
General | Behavioral economics for dummies | Altman, M. | Toronto: J. Wiley & Sons Canada | 2012 |
General | The honest truth about dishonesty: how we lie to everyone--especially ourselves | Ariely, D. | New York: Harper. | 2012 |
General | Predictably irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions (1st ed) | Ariely, D. | New York, NY: Harper | 2008 |
General | The upside of irrationality: the unexpected benefits of defying logic at work and at home | Ariely, D. | New York: Harper | 2010 |
General | Advances in behavioral economics | Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., & Rabin, M. | New York; Princeton, N.J.: Russell Sage Foundation; Princeton University Press.. | 2004 |
General | Behavioral economics | Cartwright, E. | London ; New York, NY: Routledge | 2011 |
General | Behavioral economics and its applications | Diamond, P. A., & Vartiainen, H. | Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.. | 2007 |
General | Heuristics and biases: the psychology of intuitive judgement | Gilovich, T., Griffin, D. W., & Kahneman, D. | Cambridge, U.K... | 2002 |
General | Thinking, fast and slow (1st ed) | Kahneman, D. | New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 2011 |
General | Choices, values, and frames | Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. | New York; Cambridge, UK: Russell sage Foundation; Cambridge University Press | 2000 |
General | Well-being: the foundations of hedonic psychology | Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwarz, N. | New York: Russell Sage Foundation | 1999 |
General | Judgment under uncertainty: heuristics and biases | Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., & Tversky, A. | Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press | 1982 |
General | The winner's curse: paradoxes and anomalies of economic life | Thaler, R. H. | Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. | 1992 |
General | Advances in behavioral finance: Volume II | Thaler, R. H. | New York: Russell Sage Foundation | 2012 |
General | Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness (Revised and expanded ed | Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. | New York: Penguin Books | 2009 |
General | Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics | Thaler, R. H. | 2015 | |
General | The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior | Brafman, Ori and Rom Brafman | ||
General | Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything | Levitt, Steven D. and Stephen J. Dubner | ||
General | Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It) | Poundstone, William | ||
Health | Reframing health behavior change with behavioral economics | Bickel, W. K., & Vuchinich, R. E. | Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum. | 2000 |
Book Review
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year | |
General | Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes | Wolzenski, Ben | Forecasting & Futurism Newsletter: August 2015 | 2015 | |
General | Thinking, Fast and Slow | Mohr, Tyson | Forecasting & Futurism Newsletter: August 2015 | 2015 | |
General | Predictably Irrational | Wolzenski, Ben | Forecasting & Futurism Newsletter: December 2014 | 2014 |
Literature Review
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year |
Complexity Science | Literature search results for the report Complexity science - an introduction for actuaries | Mills, Alan | SOA Health Section - Sponsored Research | 2010 |
Health | Literature search results For the International compendium of health behavior | Mills, Alan | SOA Health Section - Sponsored Research | 2013 |
Health | International compendium of health behavior | Mills, Alan | SOA Health Section - Sponsored Research | 2013 |
Retirement | The Role of Behavioral Economics and Behavioral Decision Making in Americans' Retirement Savings Decisions | Knoll, Melissa A. Z. | SOA Pension Section - Sponsored Research | 2011 |
Research Report
Slide Deck
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year |
General | Behavioral Economics for Beginners | Soojin Jang, ASA, MAAA; John Patrick Kinney III, FSA, MAAA | SOA Health Meeting - Session 20 | 2015 |
General | New Research in Behavioral Economics in Health Care | Ben Handel, Ph.D.; Keith Ericson, Ph.D.; Christopher James Coulter, FSA, MAAA, CERA | SOA Health Meeting - Session 30 | 2015 |
Health | Behavioral Finance for Health Actuaries | Christopher James Coulter, ASA, CERA, MAAA; Daniel S. Pribe, FSA, MAAA; John W. C. Stark, FSA, CERA, MAAA | SOA Health Meeting - Session 22 | 2014 |
Investments | Behavioral Portfolios in the Life Cycle | Statman, Meir | Investment Symposium - Session P1 | 2014 |
Life Insurance | Setting Dynamic Policyholder Behavior Assumptions | Marianne C Purushotham, Michael Chan, Katie Cantor | SOA Life & Annuity Symposium - Session 78 | 2014 |
Modeling | Predictive Modeling for Actuaries: Machine Learning, Predictive Modeling and Insurance Risk Management | Warren A. Manners, Fsa, Maaa Jeff T. Heaton Anand Rao | SOA Annual Meeting - Session 183 | 2014 |
Transcript
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year |
Health | Behavioral Economics: The Art and Science of Making Choices | John W C Stark, Ellen Peters | SOA Health Meeting - Session 14 | 2005 |
Investments | How is Behavioral Finance Behaving? | Marks, Neaven, & Brizeli | SOA Annual Meeting - Session 94 | 2000 |
Investments | Psychology of Investing | Thaler, R. H. and J. L. Strachen | SOA Annual Meeting - Session 48 | 1998 |
Video
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year |
General | Authors @ Google: Dan Ariely | Ariely, D. | Retrieved from www.youtube.com | 2008a |
General | Explorations of the mind - Well-being, Hitchcock Lectures | Kahneman, D. | Retrieved from www.youtube.com | 2008b |
General | Explorations of the mind - Intuition: the marvels and the flaws, Hitchcock Lectures | Kahneman, D. | Retrieved from www.youtube.com | 2008a |
General | Nobel Prize lecture by Daniel Kahneman | Kahneman, D. | Retrieved from www.nobelprize.org | 2002 |
General | Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us, RSAnimate | Pink, D. | Retrieved from www.youtube.com | 2010 |
General | Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation, TED Ideas worth spreading | Pink, D. | Retrieved from www.ted.com | 2009 |
General | Conversations with history: Richard H | Thaler, R. H. | Thaler, Conversations with history: Institute of International Studies. Retrieved from www.youtube.com | 2010 |
Video Series
Application Area | Title | Author | Journal/Publication | Year |
General | Dan Ariely: Predictably irrational (series of seven videos) | Ariely, D. | Retrieved from www.youtube.com | 2008-2009 |