The ageing population, dependency burdens and household commercial insurance purchase: evidence from China

Abstract

This paper presents evidence that dependency burdens play a key role in commercial insurance market in China. It is found that the child dependency ratio has a positive effect on the households’ demand for commercial insurance, whereas the old-age dependency ratio has the negative effect. Furthermore, child dependency ratio of the eastern and high-income households in China has a larger influence on commercial insurance purchase, while the old-age dependency ratio has the less impact. Our findings provide useful insights for the important issue of the ageing population and low birth-rate in China.