Culture,financial crisis and the demand for property,accident and health insurance in the OECD countries

Culture has been known to play an important role in explaining differences in consumption behaviour across countries. Yet, we know very little how it affects spending on non-life insurance products. This paper attempts to shed some light on how cultural characteristics impact the demand for property, accident and health insurance, focusing on the OECD countries in the period 2000–2017. We find, via the system generalized method of moment estimations, that cultural characteristics such as individualism, long-term orientation, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance were the drivers of the expenditure on property insurance, whereas long-term orientation, uncertainty avoidance and hypometropia explained accident and health insurance spending across the OECD countries. In the presence of the global financial crisis, cultural effects on property insurance spending turned out to be relatively minor, with the exception of individualism. These findings provide valuable information for non-life insurance companies, consumers and policy makers in the OECD countries.     

Determinants of non-life insurance expenditure in developed and developing countries: an empirical investigation

The determinants of non-life insurance expenditure in a panel data set covering 36 developed countries and 31 developing countries for the period 2000–2011 are analysed. Results of our instrumental variable analysis indicate that economic freedom, income, bank development, urbanization, culture and law systems are the key drivers of the non-life insurance expenditure across countries. However, their impacts differ significantly between the groups of developed and developing countries, suggesting that the heterogeneity among countries in terms of the level of development plays an important role. The global financial crisis is also found to influence the direction of those effects, especially in developed countries. The article yields useful policy and economic implications for governments and multinational non-life insurance companies with regard to the development of the non-life insurance sector, an important engine for economic growth and prosperity.     

Capital account openness and early warning system for banking crises in G20 countries

This paper develops an early warning system for banking crises in the G20 countries, with the inclusion of capital account openness indicators. Results suggest that the capital account openness demonstrates a significant predictive power on systemic banking crises, and the impact is related with the level of the economic development. For low-income countries, increased capital account openness has a significantly negative impact on the banking crises likelihoods, while for high-income countries it imposes a positive impact. For middle-income countries, however, the occurrence of banking crises is more indifferent to capital account liberalization.     

Trade liberalization,financial modernization and economic development: An empirical study of selected Asia–Pacific countries

This study investigates the relationship between trade liberalization, financial modernization and economic development for 14 countries in the Asia and Pacific region over the period spanning from 1961 to 2011. The study uses panel data as they have many advantages over cross-sectional or time series data. In addition to analyzing the full panel, we also divide the 14 countries under study into two sub-samples: high-income countries and middle-income countries, based on World Bank's income classification as of 1st July 2013. The panel cointegration tests show a long run relationship between the above variables. The study uses Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) method to estimate the models and then conducts Granger causality tests to identify patterns of causation among the variables of interest. In general, the results indicate unidirectional causality (1) from financial modernization to economic development for the entire panel and the panel of middle-income countries; (2) from trade liberalization to economic development for the whole panel as well as two subpanels of high-income and middle-income countries; and (3) from trade liberalization to financial modernization for the whole panel as well as two subpanels. The findings of this study support that the actual effect of financial depth on economic development (and vice versa) seems to depend on the level of financial development.     

Impact of hurricanes strikes on international reserves in the Caribbean

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigate the impacts of hurricane shocks on the international reserves of Caribbean countries. To this end, we use a panel VARX (Vector Auto-Regressive, with exogenous variables) with monthly data that allow us to account for external shocks (hurricane strikes). Our results show that for the whole sample, an increase in foreign reserves a month after the strike was followed by a decrease 2 months later. The increase can be explained by remittances and emergency foreign aid granted by the International Monetary Fund. Dividing the sample into middle-income and high-income countries shows that the increase is mainly due to the latter. This outcome may not be surprising given that production in Caribbean high-income countries is mainly due to manufacturing, off-shore banking and natural resources exploitation, which are all non-weather dependent sectors, while the middle-income countries are mostly dependent on weather-prone agriculture and tourism.     

我国非寿险需求影响因素的实证分析

运用1985-2005年的相关数据,考察了经济增长、消费者的保险意识、风险水平、保险价格和保险市场供给因素对非寿险需求的影响。结果表明:经济增长、消费者的保险意识、风险水平对非寿险需求有显著的影响;而非寿险价格和非寿险市场的供给因素对非寿险需求的影响并不显著。对上述结果进行了进一步的讨论。     

Structural Adjustment Programs: Some New Findings

Recent studies of structural adjustments highlight two results: intensive adjustment-lending countries performed better than nonadjustment-lending countries during the late 1980s, and middle-income countries performed better than low-income countries. However, the methodology has ignored the distribution of the growth rate in a country over the period 1985 to 1990. When this distribution of the growth rate is taken into account, low-income adjustment-lending countries performed better than middle-income countries during the late 1980s, especially when the growth rate of high-income economies is held constant.     

Short-termism of long-term investors? The investment behaviour of Dutch insurance companies and pension funds

Countercyclical investment strategies of large institutional investors such as insurance companies and pension funds can support financial stability, while procyclical investment behaviour is considered as destabilizing at a macro level. Yet, there is limited understanding of how insurance companies and pension funds invest during market shocks, such as the global financial crisis. Investigating the equity and fixed income portfolios of Dutch non-life insurers, life insurers and pension funds, we find evidence for procyclical behaviour by insurance companies (both life and non-life). For pension funds, we find evidence for countercyclical behaviour during market upturns.     

Human Capital Accumulation In the Middle-Income Country and World Trade*

I construct a dynamic three-country model of trade and growth in which a worker determines how long he takes training. the path of human capital accumulation of a worker is analyzed. I consider the case in which per capita human capital grows in the middle-income country while it stagnates in the high-income and low-income countries. Effects of the middle-income country's growth are studied.     

Does Culture Drive Innovation and Export Quality?

Quality upgrading is important for two reasons: it helps us understand the determinants of trade flows between countries and it promotes economic development. We study the cultural determinants of export quality using Hofstede's four original cultural dimensions to provide hypotheses on R&D spending, patents per capita and export quality. We then employ three-stage least squares analysis and confirm our hypotheses. For example, we find uncertainty avoidance encourages small-scale continuous improvement initiatives and substantially increases export quality. Power distance and individualism increase export quality, while masculinity has a small impact on quality. Finally, we provide implications for understanding the direction of trade and developing policy.     

Convergence of the world’s energy use

This paper uses the sequential panel selection method to examine the convergence of the energy use of 107 countries. It contributes by analyzing the order of convergence and the factors affecting the difference in convergence using improved methods. We provide robust evidence to indicate that seven out of ten countries have been convergent during the period examined, and strong decoupling across countries does not exist. Additionally, high-income and upper-middle-income countries show convergence characteristics earlier than lower middle-income and low-income countries. This means that high-income and upper-middle-income countries are the first to achieve steady-state levels by adjusting their industrial structure and adopting new technologies, and energy exporters have dominant control over energy use. We find that energy-exporting countries converge before energy importers do. These results mean that the energy use of most countries is in accordance with the convergence theory. It also shows that GDP per capita, industrialization level and latitude have great impacts on convergence, especially for industrialization. Our research provides a reference for countries around the world to adjust their energy use policies and to realize a rational flow of energy resources.     

产险业资本结构与承保风险对获利能力的影响——基于结构方程模型的实证分析

文章以资本结构理论为基础,利用国内产险公司2001～2004年的财务数据,运用结构方程模型探讨产险公司资本结构与承保风险对获利能力的影响。实证结果发现,资本结构的变化对我国产险公司的获利能力有正负两方面的影响,而资本结构与风险之间是相互影响的。当不考虑风险的影响时,资产负债率的提高会增强公司的获利能力,而随着资产负债率的提高,公司承保风险加大,对公司的获利能力有显著的负向影响。因此,产险公司不应一味地通过提高资产负债率来取得短期获利,还应注意控制风险,增强长期获利能力。     

A comparative review of the pharmacoeconomic guidelines in South Africa

Objective: To compare the pharmacoeconomic guidelines in South Africa (SA) with other middle- and high-income countries.

Methods: A comparative review of key features of the pharmacoeconomic guidelines in SA was undertaken using the Comparative Table of Pharmacoeconomic Guidelines developed by the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, and published country-level pharmacoeconomics guidelines. A random sample of guidelines in high- and middle-income countries were analyzed if data on all key features were available. Key features of the pharmacoeconomic guidelines in SA were compared with those in other countries, and divergent features were identified and elaborated.

Results: Five upper middle-income countries (Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Malaysia, and Mexico), one lower middle-income country (Egypt), and six high-income countries (Germany, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Taiwan, and the Netherlands) were analyzed. The pharmacoeconomic guidelines in SA differ in important areas when compared with other countries. In SA, the study perspective and costs are limited to private health-insurance companies, complex modelling is discouraged and models require pre-approval, equity issues are not explicitly stated, a budget impact analysis is not required, and pharmacoeconomic submissions are voluntary.

Conclusions: Future updates to the pharmacoeconomic guidelines in SA may include a societal perspective with limitations, incentivize complex and transparent models, and integrate equity issues. The pharmacoeconomic guidelines could be improved by addressing conflicting objectives with policies on National Health Insurance, incentivize private health insurance companies to disclose reimbursement data, and require the inclusion of a budget impact analysis in all pharmacoeconomic submissions. Further research is also needed on the impact of mandatory pharmacoeconomic submissions in middle-income countries.     

Culture in Preferences for Income Equality and Safety Nets

Economic and social policies vary across countries, reflecting their cultures and shaping them. People in some countries are more loss averse than in others. People in some countries express stronger preferences for income equality than do people in others, and some countries offer stronger safety nets than others do. The cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance expresses the degree to which people in a country feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and the way a country deals with the fact that the future can never be known. The author finds that uncertainty avoidance is associated with loss aversion. People are more loss averse in the domains of both portfolios and jobs in countries where uncertainty avoidance is high. Moreover, people in countries where uncertainty avoidance is high express stronger preferences for income equality, and social spending in such countries is high. The cultural dimension of power distance expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The author finds that people in countries where power distance is high express weaker preference for income equality, and social spending in such countries is low.     

数字服务贸易与国家创新能力：基于收入差距的中介效应研究

作为一种新的贸易形态与商业模式,数字服务贸易在推动国家创新发展中的作用愈发显现。本文基于2011—2019年全球66个国家的面板数据,就数字服务贸易对国家创新能力的影响作用进行了实证研究,探讨收入差距在二者之间可能发挥的作用,并基于不同经济发展水平的国家样本展开了异质性分析。结果表明：数字服务贸易对国家创新能力的提升具有显著的正向影响;收入差距在二者之间发挥部分中介作用;高收入国家发展数字服务贸易对国家创新能力的显著提升作用更强,而中等收入国家受限于经济发展所处阶段,短期内一定的收入差距可以阶段性地提升国家创新能力,但长期来看,仍需避免收入差距过快拉大的现象。为此,包括我国在内的中等收入国家需要在既定发展条件下,通过改革收入分配制度,推动数字服务贸易与收入差距协调发展,进而共同促进国家创新能力的提升。     

The Role of Multinational Firms in the Wage-Gap Debate

The observation of an increase in the ratio of skilled to unskilled wages in the high-income countries and in some cases in low/middle-income countries has led to considerable discussion and controversy as to its cause. Virtually none of the analyses have considered a role for multinational investment in explaining the wage-gap phenomenon. This paper adapts the authors' earlier work to consider what role multinationals might play in factor markets. It identifies circumstances under which investment liberalization is likely to raise the wage gap in both the skilled-labor abundant and the unskilled-labor abundant country.     

The costs of distribution in the UK life insurance market

The cost of direct and independent distribution in the UK life insurance sector over the period 1990–1997 is examined. This is a novel contribution to the literature that until now has focused almost solely on distribution in the non-life sector. Unlike the non-life sector the distribution of life insurance is complicated by the existence of investor protection policies. Which in the UK are believed to have increased the use of independent agents. Using a pooled data set of 44 companies between 1990 and 1997, this study finds little evidence for such a view. Cost benefits are found for firms focusing in one mode of distribution. From a modelling of the distribution decision this finding maybe attributed to firms choosing distribution systems which match the transactional problems associated with their product mix and/or mode of corporate governance.     

A (nearly) global look at the dynamics of youth smoking initiation and cessation: the role of cigarette prices

This study investigates the role of cigarette prices on smoking initiation and cessation among youth in a sample of eight primarily non-Western low, middle, and high income countries, with a particular focus on a subsample of 40 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using split-population duration models on longitudinally-transformed individual data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), the average impact of cigarette prices in the presence of unobserved country heterogeneity and shifting cultural norms within countries is identified by the variation of cigarette prices within countries over time. Price increases are found to effectively reduce initiation in early youth, and girls are considerably more responsive than boys. The price elasticity of initiation in LMICs is ?0.82 for the combined gender analysis, ?0.46 for boys only and ?1.5 for girls only. There is some indication that youths in developing countries may be slightly less responsive to price changes than in high-income countries. No evidence is found that cigarette prices increase quitting rates in youth, which may be due to the difficulty of defining true quitting among smokers in early life.