Moral hazard and adverse selection are similar asymmetric information problems but moral hazard involves hidden actions while adverse selection involves hidden characteristics.

Moral Hazard

A situation where one party engages in risky behavior knowing that they are protected from the consequences by another party.

Adverse Selection

A situation where asymmetric information results in high-risk individuals being more likely to select into or remain in a contract designed for low-risk individuals, affecting insurance markets and other transactional relationships.

Asymmetric Information

A situation in which one party to a transaction has more or superior information compared to another.