A study to identify the training needs of life insurance sales representatives in Taiwan using the Delphi approach

This article reports a study conducted to identify the needs for continuing professional development for life insurance sales representatives and to examine the competencies needed by those sales representatives. A modified Delphi technique was used. Most life insurance companies in the USA implement an education and training plan advocated by the Life Office Management Association. Insurance companies in Taiwan implement similar education and training plans, but they do not seem to result in the successful performance of their sales representatives. Besides augmenting knowledge of various financial products and marketing approaches, this study also suggests that life insurance companies need to train their sales representatives to an adequate standard in competencies of problem solving, communication, information technology utilization, culture compatibility, emotional intelligence, collective competence and ethics.     

Beneficiaries or policyholders? The role of women in Swedish life insurance 1900–1950

In the second half of the nineteenth century, women were depicted as dependents and beneficiaries and men as breadwinners and policyholders in Swedish life insurance sales promotions. Furthermore, life insurance was assumed to be a middle-class concern. The notion of the life insurance policyholder as ‘middle class’ and ‘male’ was first contested with the introduction of industrial life insurance, i.e. life insurance for the working classes and also, to a large extent, the rural population in Sweden. The industrial life insurance business contributed to the growth of a large proportion of female life insurance policyholders from the rural and working classes. This article illuminates the contrast between ideological representations of women as the opponents of life insurance in sales promotions and the real actions and roles of women in business history.     

法律环境差异与区域保险不平衡--基于我国不同经济发展水平的研究

以1999－2011年我国31个省（或直辖市）为样本,分析法律环境是否对非寿险和寿险发展产生影响,并探讨随着经济发展水平的提升这一影响是否存在以及影响结果如何。研究发现：一方面,在控制一些影响因素后,法律环境对非寿险业和寿险业发展存在着明显的正效应;另一方面,法律环境对非寿险业发展的影响与经济发展水平呈现出“L”型关系,而寿险业则呈现出“U”型关系,证实法律环境会影响区域保险发展。     

The relationship between ethical and customer-oriented service provider behaviors

This study examines the relationship between the ethical behavior and customer orientation of insurance sales agents engaged in the selling of complex services, e.g. health, life, auto, and property insurance. The effect of ethical and customer-oriented behavior, measured by the SOCO scale (Saxe and Weitz, 1982), on the annual premiums generated by the agents is also investigated. Customeroriented sales agents are found to engage in less unethical behavior than their sales-oriented counterparts. Further, sales-oriented agents are found to perceive greater levels of unethical behavior among their significant others. Alarmingly, higher levels of sales premiums are found among those agents who engage in unethical behavior.     

In the service of the society: The labour management practices of an Australian life Insurer to 1940

This article considers the labour management practices in use in the Australian life insurance industry during the inter-war period. Using the Australian Mutual Provident as a case study, it is argued that the specific human resource management practices evolved to deal with separate sets of problems arising from the functions of the life insurance business and the manner in which the principal/agent problem was manifested. The differing nature of work associated with the sales and management of life insurance fostered the development of primary and secondary labour markets in which the benefits flowing to one were superior to those accruing to the other.     

企业生命周期阶段、销售操控与未来业绩

基于公司层面的生命周期阶段变量,结合Roychowdhury (2006)提出的销售操控估计方法,本文检验生命周期不同阶段下公司销售操控程度及其经济后果是否存在差异。结果表明：(1)销售操控程度存在显著的生命周期效应,在生命周期各阶段呈现出U型分布：导入期和衰退期的销售操控程度最高,淘汰期和增长期次之,成熟期最低。(2)销售操控的经济后果也存在显著的生命周期效应,同样呈现出U型分布：导入期和衰退期销售操控对未来业绩的负面影响最小,淘汰期和增长期次之,成熟期的负面影响最大。本文的研究结论不仅提供了销售操控影响因素和经济后果方面的经验证据,而且对于透析企业生命周期的作用机理具有重要的实践意义。     

Coercion in the selling of credit life insurance

Credit life insurance, which repays some or all of a borrower's outstanding debt in the event of death, has been a controversial subject for many years. Critics assert that, despite regulations that limit tied sales, pressure on loan officers to generate fee income through cross selling creates an incentive for coercion of borrowers. Allegedly, some sales techniques leave the consumer with the false impression that the purchase of credit insurance was necessary to obtain the loan. This article measures the frequency with which creditor efforts to sell credit insurance transform the sales message from persuasive to coercive. A methodology is developed for measuring the impact of coercive selling pressure applied to borrowers at the point of sale. Data used to measure the effect of coercive pressure are taken from an extensive survey of borrowers conducted during 1993. Not only are public policy concerns about coercion in the selling of credit insurance addressed, but more generally the article offers a methodology to quantify the influence of the customer's point-of-sale experience on the decision to purchase any financial service. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Insurance Sales Agents and the Internet: The Relationship Between Opinion Leadership,Subjective Knowledge,and Internet Attitudes

The Internet offers a number of opportunities and threats for insurance sales agents. On the one hand, the Internet provides opportunities to communicate with and reach customers. However, it also introduces the risk of losing business to insurance providers or competitors. These opportunities and threats create a need to understand the characteristics that may affect the views of insurance agents regarding the Internet and its impact on their business. This paper compares insurance sales agents' scores on an opinion leadership scale (Flynn, Goldsmith, and Eastman 1996) and subjective knowledge scale (Flynn and Goldsmith 1999) with their attitudes toward the Internet. The results suggest that those insurance sales agents with a higher level of subjective knowledge about the Internet are more likely to be opinion leaders about the Internet. Both opinion leaders and those with higher levels of subjective knowledge have a more positive attitude about the Internet, but only the relationship with opinion leadership is significant. In addition, those insurance sales agents who are younger (than the approximate mean age of 46 years old) are more likely to be opinion leaders and have a higher level of subjective knowledge of the Internet. The results suggest that perceived knowledge and the willingness to discuss the Internet with others impact one's attitude of it, and that the younger insurance agents will play a leading role in how the Internet will be used.     

Demographics,job satisfaction,and propensity to leave of industrial salesmen

An extremely important and expensive promotional tool used by industrial marketers is personal selling. One of the major costs of personal selling is the cost associated with sales personnel turnover. Past studies in the sales management area have focused on the effect of organizational and psychological factors on the satisfaction of salespeople and their propensity to leave their organizations. However, no study has examined the interrelationships among salespeople's demographic variables, job satisfaction, and propensity to leave, even though such relationships have been studied for nonselling occupations. An empirical study done to at least partly fill this research void is described. The results provide new insights for researchers and practitioners with an interest in the sales management area.     

寿险代理人激励效应实证分析——基于VAR模型和脉冲响应函数的研究

实证分析表明,目前的高首期佣金制度是一种“强规模”激励设计,诱使寿险代理人只注重扩大业务数量而忽视业务品质,建议延长佣金的发放时间,将首、续期佣金率适当均衡化;此外,研究结果也显示目前寿险代理人增员、培训、职业生涯规划激励效应弱化,有待进一步改进。     

中国保险公司资本结构的影响因素及调整速度——产险公司和寿险公司的比较

本文利用1998—2010年中国大陆地区财产保险公司和人寿保险公司的业务数据和财务数据,在部分调整模型的基础上,通过差分GMM方法对二者资本结构的影响因素进行实证研究。本文发现,中国产险公司和寿险公司的目标资本结构与公司规模、公司成熟度的关联显著为正,与产品分散化、地理分散化、产品收支间隔期的关联不显著,而再保险利用只对产险公司影响显著。平均而言,每一年度中国产险公司和寿险公司分别可以调整目标资本结构缺口的42.1%和28.5%。     

Economic growth,financial market,and twin crises

In this study, we look not only to provide empirical evidence to investigate the direct impact of financial crises on economic growth, but also to examine the roles of insurance development, financial liberalization, financial institution, and crisis intervention policies on the relationship between the two. We employ a panel data framework from 50 countries by applying the dynamic panel generalized method of moments model. Our main empirical results show that financial crises do have a significantly negative impact on economic growth. In addition, governments or authorities are encouraged to further enhance their insurance sector in order to help spur economic growth when financial crises arise. The government intervention policy choice is also an important factor influencing economic growth during crises.     

我国上市保险公司可持续增长实证研究

运用希金斯的可持续增长模型对我国上市保险公司的可持续增长进行实证研究,分析可持续增长的组成要素销售净利率、总资产周转率、收益留存率、权益乘数这四个参数对保险公司可持续增长能力的影响,提出深化我国保险业的公司治理、大力拓展业务范围、正确处理内源性融资和外源性融资的关系等政策建议,以期对我国上市保险公司可持续增长提供借鉴。     

农产品网络销售对家庭经营农户参保行为的影响研究——基于梨主产区调查数据

"互联网+"现代农业改变了农业生产经营模式,对农业保险的创新性和适应性提出了更高的要求.在此背景下,本文以河北、山东和安徽三省家庭经营梨果种植户为样本,运用Logit离散选择模型对农产品网络销售模式下普通农户和规模农户参加互助保险和公共保险的影响因素进行实证分析.结果发现:第一,农产品网络销售提升了普通农户参加互助保险和公共保险的意愿,并造成规模农户退出保险互助合作;第二,梨果生产能力、资金补贴程度、农业风险认知和渠道参与深度等因素对引入农产品网络销售模式后的家庭经营农户参保行为存在影响.建议鼓励农户依托区域农产品特色发展网络销售模式,针对农产品产量、价格和品质波动定制农业保险品种,重视农业技术培训在非技术领域的传播作用.     

纵向分拆与价格规制对中国发电企业效率的影响

如何激励电力企业改进生产效率一直是电力行业改革的核心问题。本文实证测度1999-2009年间我国数百家火力发电企业年度TFP,显示2002年厂网分拆之后,火力发电企业TFP的增速较之前有明显提升,表明市场化改革确实对发电企业生产效率的改进起到促进作用,但是通过销售电价与发电企业TFP回归分析发现,销售电价下降对发电企业TFP有明显的激励作用,而销售电价上升对发电企业TFP并无影响,即存在非对称性激励,表明销售电价的变化信号被选择性地向上游传递,仅规制销售电价可能并不会促进输配电企业改进生产效率,但发电企业受到规制转嫁的风险却确定性地增加了。     

外资保险公司在华区位选择的决定因素——基于地级单位截取数据的分析

采用外资公司保费收入占比和外资公司机构数占比作为考察变量,利用我国2009年285个城市的分险种数据,通过托宾回归发现:市场规模、利润边际对外资保险公司进入的影响显著为正,而市场集中度和是否为中心城市的影响则显著为负;跟随客户战略只在财产险市场中得到支持,而金融业发展程度只在人身险市场中作用显著;从整体上来看,我国历史上"阶梯式"开放政策的持续影响已不显著。     

The sales process and the paradoxes of trust

This essay explores a major ethical variable in personal sales: trust. By analyzing data drawn from life insurance sales, the essay supports the thesis that the role of the agent and the exigencies of personal sales create certain antinomies of trust that compromise the sales process. As a result, trust occupies a problematic and apparently paradoxical position in the sales process. On the one hand, success in personal sales is held to depend upon trust. On the other hand, because the techniques required to form trust in personal sales nullify the conditions under which trust is possible, these instruments of trust formation are self-defeating. Guy Oakes is Kvernland Professor in the School of Business, Monmouth College (NJ). He has written on classical social theory, the sociology of culture, and, most recently, the sociology of ethics. His most recent books are Weber and Rickert: Concept Formation in the Cultural Sciences (1988), Die Grenzen kulturwissenschaftlicher Bergriffsbildung: Heidelberger Max Weber Vorlesungen (1990), and The Soul of the Salesman: the moral ethos of personal sales (1990).     

浅谈寿险公司所得税制度构建

我国目前尚未形成适应寿险商品特殊性的所得税制度,这与现行市场条件下我国寿险业的发展是不相适应的。基于此,本文从寿险商品交易长期性、储蓄性及投资性出发,分析了我国构建寿险公司所得税制度的必要性,并借鉴国际上比较流行的寿险所得税课征模式,提出我国寿险所得税制度构建的大体思路。