Study On The Influence Of Subjective Life Expectancy Of Middle-aged And Elderly On Life Insurance Purchase Decision

With the increasingly prominent problem of China’s aging population,the burden of social and family support for the aged is getting heavier and heavier.Although there is a wide range of related social systems to protect the elderly,they are more satisfied with the individual’s basic needs and cannot guarantee the elderly people’s pursuit of quality of life in their later years and a higher level of yearning.As the necessary support and supplement of social insurance,life insurance can play an essential role in meeting the aged’s needs and improving the old-age security.Subjective life expectancy is a characteristic variable related to life insurance’s subject matter(life span and body).It is of great significance to study its impact on the purchase decision of life insurance.This paper is mainly based on the micro perspective,qualitative and quantitative analysis of the impact of the subjective life expectancy of the elderly on the decision-making of life insurance purchase.This paper uses the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)data from2013,2015 and 2018,selects whether the interviewees purchase life insurance(life insurance,commercial medical insurance,commercial pension insurance)and life insurance premium expenses as the explanatory variables,subjective survival probability as the explanatory variables,and individual and family characteristics as the control variables,and establishes panel Probit and Tobit models to analyze the relationship between the subjective life expectancy and life insurance purchase decisions of the elderly in China.The results show that:(1)the subjective life expectancy of the middle-aged and the elderly has a significant positive impact on the purchase and allocation of life insurance.The increase in subjective life expectancy significantly promotes the possibility of life insurance purchase and premium payment for the middle-aged and elderly.From the perspective of specific types of insurance,this promotion is more obvious for life insurance and commercial health insurance.(2)Social interaction plays a part mediating role in the influence of subjective life expectancy of the middle-aged and the elderly on life insurance purchase decisions.Subjective life expectancy can affect the decision-making of life insurance purchase by influencing the social interaction level of the middle-aged and the elderly.From the perspective of specific types of insurance,social interaction plays a certain intermediary role in different types of life insurance,but the intermediary effect is most obvious in life insurance purchase.(3)Age has a significant negative impact on the purchase and allocation of life insurance,and variables such as education level,cognitive ability,risk preference,total household income and total assets have a significant positive impact on the purchase and allocation of life insurance.(4)The subjective life expectancy of the middle-aged and the elderly affects the decision-making of life insurance purchase,which shows significant differences from the perspectives of urban and rural areas,age groups and cognitive ability.The significant positive impact of the middle-aged and the elderly’s subjective life expectancy on the purchase of life insurance is more manifested in the sub-sample of urban,middle-aged and higher cognitive ability.Finally,combined the current situation of life insurance development,theoretical and empirical analysis results,from the government departments,insurance companies and middle-aged and elderly residents three levels of tentative suggestions.