Fondazione GRINS
Growing Resilient,
Inclusive and Sustainable
Galleria Ugo Bassi 1, 40121, Bologna, IT
C.F/P.IVA 91451720378
Finanziato dal Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR), Missione 4 (Infrastruttura e ricerca), Componente 2 (Dalla Ricerca all’Impresa), Investimento 1.3 (Partnership Estese), Tematica 9 (Sostenibilità economica e finanziaria di sistemi e territori).



Open Access
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This paper studies how information on costs and prevalence of long-term (LTC) care shapes individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for long-term care insurance (LTCI) using a randomized experiment on a representative Italian sample. The design allows for causal identification of the effects of cost-risk and fiscal information on stated WTP. Results show that factual information about costs and risks of LTC significantly increases the monthly WTP by about €3—around 15% relative to the control mean—while the fiscal message has no significant impact. The effect is robust across specifications and driven by groups initially less informed, such as women and the uninsured. By contrast, extensive-margin results are not stable, suggesting that information mainly affects how much individuals are willing to contribute, not whether they would buy insurance. Aggregating individual WTP to the national level implies a potential annual fund of €13–13.7 billion, roughly 8–12% higher than the baseline and equivalent to about 15% of households’ expenses and one-third of current public longterm care spending.
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AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU, in the framework of the GRINS - Growing Resilient, INclusive and Sustainable project (GRINS PE00000018). The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, nor can the European Union be held responsible for them.
The authors wish to thank Donatella Albano, Dario Focarelli and Tullio Jappelli for their insightful comments.
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