Medical professionalism in the life insurance industry

Steadily increasing competition has changed the underwriting environment in most life insurance companies. This article attempts to explore how heightened competition presents a new challenge for medical professionals employed in the industry.     

市场结构、股权结构与证券公司成本效率——基于PR模型的静态、动态考察

本文基于静态、动态PR模型,对我国证券业、创新类及规范类证券公司的市场结构进行测度,运用SFA法测度证券公司的成本效率,进而实证分析市场结构、股权结构与证券公司成本效率之间的关系。结果显示:2006-2010期间我国证券业的市场结构为垄断竞争,且创新类证券公司之间的市场竞争比规范类证券公司之间的竞争要激烈得多。市场结构指标——市场竞争度与证券公司效率之间是一种倒U型关系。国有性质证券公司的效率低于非国有性质证券公司的效率,股权性质对规范类证券公司效率的影响更明显;股权集中度与证券公司效率之间是一种U型关系,并且,股权集中度对创新类证券公司影响较大。     

Geographic Deregulation and Competition in the U.S. Banking Industry

We examine the effects of geographic deregulation on state‐level competition in U.S. banking markets over the period 1976‐2005. The empirical results confirm that the U.S. banks in general operated under monopolistic competition during the period examined. After partitioning the sample based on bank size we find that the market competition for large banks in Delaware, Oregon, and Rhode Island can be characterized as monopolistic while small banks in Arizona and Massachusetts seem to have operated under the conditions of perfect competition. The removal of geographic restrictions appears to have very limited and non‐uniform effect on state‐level competitive conduct. There is some evidence that the U.S. banking industry might have actually experienced a less competitive behavior in recent years due to increased market power of larger banks.     

我国财产保险市场承保效益影响因素分析

近年来,我国产险市场业务呈现快速增长态势,竞争主体迅速增多,市场集中度不断下降,竞争越来越激烈.市场不规范现象经常出现,费率下降,各家保险企业的承保效益出现普遍亏损现象,直接影响了行业的可持续发展和削弱了我国产险企业的市场竞争力.基于此,本文以我国产险市场上10家产险企业为样本,以2004至2008年的数据进行面板回归...     

SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN MOTOR INSURANCE IN THAILAND

ABSTRACT: The 1990s saw rapid economic growth in Thailand. Motor insurance grew enormously, becoming the biggest income earner for total general business (both for the whole industry and for many individual companies). Cash flow underwriting seemed to be the recipe for success in a competitive market.
The agency distribution system for motor insurance in Thailand is almost wholly controlled by finance companies and banks, which expect a high rate of commission. Their delay in paying over the premiums to the insurers created bad-debt problems after the 1997 economic crash, when the government closed many of these financing companies. This also meant an end to the motor insurance boom, with a decrease in premium income and a reduction in investment returns and assets, thus threatening solvency margins.
Earlier in the decade, in 1993, there was the introduction of compulsory third-party insurance, followed by the establishment by the government of provincial bureaus to help these third-party claimants. And in 2000, just in time for the next wave of economic growth, a new rating system has been introduced to bring sophistication to the basic process of evaluating and pricing different risks, though still within a government tariff system. Liberalization is coming, in stages, and the industry is making changes so as to be in a fit state to cope with the increased competition and opportunities that this liberalization will bring.
Like all setbacks, the crash of 1997 was an opportunity for Thai motor insurers to examine the fundamentals of their business and plan to increase their professionalism. Some are already well on the way to high-quality service, meeting ISO 9002 standards, and have begun Internet trading.     

Competition and Insurance Twenty Years Later

We are honored to address the European Group of Risk and Insurance Economists and will take the opportunity to make some reflections on the rather uneasy relationship between insurance and competition. Economists generally prescribe competition as a solution for markets that do not work well. Competition allocates resources efficiently and encourages innovation and attention to what customers want. Insurance markets differ from most other markets because in insurance markets competition can destroy the market rather than make it work better. One of the dimensions along which insurance companies compete is underwriting—trying to ensure that the risks covered are “good” risks or that if a high risk is insured, the premium charged is at least commensurate with the potential cost. The resulting partitioning of risk limits the amount of insurance that potential insurance customers can buy. In the extreme case, such competitive behavior will destroy the insurance market altogether. A simple model illustrates.     

数字化转型背景下保险科技对财险公司经营效率的影响研究——基于DEA-Tobit面板模型

本文利用2011—2017年58家财险公司的面板数据和中国数字金融发展指数,构建DEA-Tobit面板模型,探究保险科技对财险公司经营效率的影响。研究结论表明:(1)保险科技与财险公司经营效率之间呈U形关系,即在互联网保险阶段,受资源投入不充分、新技术产出滞后性等因素影响,保险科技对财险公司经营效率产生消极影响,而在新技术赋能的保险科技阶段,科技的沉淀开始逐步释放效益,助推了财险公司经营效率的提升;(2)保险科技对中外资财险公司经营效率的影响具有差异性;(3)保险科技发展在长期可通过降低经营成本、增加营销收入和资金运用收益来提高财险公司经营效率。     

外资银行进入对我国银行业市场竞争度的影响：基于Panzar-Rosse模型的实证研究

本文采用Panzar-Rosse模型度量了1996年至2006年间我国银行业的市场竞争度,并对外资银行进入程度与市场竞争度的关系进行了经验分析,结果表明,近十年间我国银行业呈现垄断竞争格局,且竞争压力呈上升趋势,这主要归因于银行业市场集中度的下降。外资银行进入程度与银行业市场竞争度呈现U型关系,当前外资银行带来的实际竞争压力还很有限,只有当外资银行进入程度达到并超过一定水平时,才会对我国银行业的市场竞争发挥促进作用。     

Economies of scale in financial institutions: A general model applied to insurance

This study describes and applies an alternative methodology for measuring economies of scale in financial institutions. A complete model of a profit maximizing financial intermediary is constructed which yields a set of first-order conditions. These together with linear specifications of appropriate revenue and cost functions permit a two-stage estimation of cost and revenue parameters.Application of the model is illustrated by using data from the Canadian general insurance industry. Estimated cost functions suggest (1) that joint stock insurance firms realize no economies of scale from expansion of activity in any one line of insurance but realize diversification economies from writing the same aggregate dollar premiums over appreciably more lines; (2) that mutual companies enjoy direct economies of scale from a simultaneous expansion of insurance lines and, possibly, some diversification economies. Diversification economies may or may not yield special advantages to large firms depending on the competitive state of the reinsurance market.     

中国财产保险市场之竞争测度与结构分析

如果只从市场集中度判定市场竞争的程度,难以客观地反映出真实状况,本文使用Bresnahan与Lau提出的BL模型,利用非结构的方法使用更多信息分析我国财产保险市场。在财险公司追求利润最大化的假设下建立模型,采用2002年至2009年数据,对模型参数进行估计,从而分析我国财险市场竞争情况。研究发现,我国市场属于高度竞争的...     

The Dynamics of Insurance Prices

We develop a continuous-time general-equilibrium model to rationalise the dynamics of insurance prices in a competitive insurance market with financial frictions. Insurance companies choose underwriting and financing policies to maximise shareholder value. The equilibrium price dynamics are explicit, which allows simple numerical simulations and generates testable implications. In particular, we find that the equilibrium price of insurance is (weakly) predictable and the insurance sector always realises positive expected profits. Moreover, rather than true cycles, insurance prices exhibit asymmetric reversals caused by the reflection of the aggregate capacity process at the dividend and recapitalisation boundaries.     

保险公司具有信息优势下的保险市场均衡问题研究

本文应用博弈论的方法,分析了当保险公司拥有信息优势时,在完全竞争、垄断经营和销售渠道垄断等不同竞争条件下的市场均衡状况,并通过航意险业务的实际发展过程说明从保险业长远发展角度看,应着力培养市场竞争环境,推动保险费率市场化,丰富保险销售渠道,提高投保人理性购买保险的意识,促使市场实现公平、有效的均衡。     

参保密度、市场竞争与农业保险公司的成本费用

基于2010-2019年全国各地区面板数据,运用门槛回归模型,考量不同市场竞争强度下参保密度对农业保险成本费用的影响。结果显示：参保密度对农业保险的成本费用具有显著影响,但是在市场竞争强度门槛变量下呈现出不同的影响方向,当市场竞争较弱时,参保密度对农业保险的成本费用具有显著负向影响;当市场竞争较强时,参保密度对农业保险的成本费用具有显著正向影响。因此,在参保密度提升的前提下,会使得地区的农业保险市场存在一个最优竞争强度。     

Product-market strategy and underwriting performance in the United Kingdom’s property–casualty insurance market

Drawing on a framework from the organizational economics literature, we utilize a panel data design to examine empirically the effect of motor insurance and liability insurance business on the overall underwriting performance of insurers operating in the United Kingdom’s (UK) property–casualty insurance market. We find that participation in liability insurance contributes positively to underwriting performance, whereas motor insurance is associated with inferior underwriting performance. Additionally, we find that higher reinsurance ratio is associated with better underwriting performance, but reduced profit margins. Our results show that higher leverage too is associated with better underwriting performance. We conclude that our results could have potentially important commercial and/or policy implications.     

非寿险承保风险引发系统性风险的复杂网络分析

本文基于我国财险业2009～2018年数据,用复杂网络理论模型构建了财险业承保业务网络,并模拟了承保风险传染过程,分析了承保风险对财险业系统性风险的影响轨迹及程度.研究发现,我国财险业承保业务网络的联系越来越密切,承保风险的增加会引发传染风险,进而导致爆发系统性风险.但当前我国财险业整体稳定,只有发生1600亿元及以上...     

Does operating risk affect portfolio risk? Evidence from insurers' securities holding

This study empirically examines, in the setting of insurance companies, the hypothesis that investors facing more operating risk may behave as if they were more risk averse in investment decisions. Specifically, we study how operating risk from underwriting insurance policies affects insurers' risk taking behavior in their portfolio investments. We find that insurers with higher volatilities in underwriting incomes and cash flows are more conservative in their financial investment risk taking – they have lower credit risk exposure in their bond investments, as well as lower portfolio weights on risky bonds and equities. Further, insurers' portfolio risk exposure is sensitive to the risk of permanent underwriting income shocks but insensitive to the risk of transitory shocks. Transitory operating risk, however, is significantly related to portfolio risk when insurers face tight financing constraints. Our findings suggest a substitutive effect of operating risk on investment decisions by financial institutions.     

Genetic Testing,Insurance Economics,and Societal Responsibility

Three major perspectives emerge when the discussion of the implications of genetic testing on the insurance industry commences. One viewpoint, strongly advocated by certain consumer groups and ethicists on the basis of societal responsibility, categorically denies any necessity for connecting the results of genetic testing and issuance of insurance. By contrast, the insurance industry, upon examining the economics and dynamics of participation in voluntary insurance markets, lives in fear of a world filled with asymmetrical information (counter to the axioms for competitive markets), adverse selection (action by the insured as a result of asymmetric information to the perceived economic disadvantage of the insurer), and ultimately even the possibility of potential market failure or insurance company insolvency. An actuarial perspective considering the benefits (to the insurer) of this new genetic information concentrates primarily on the possibility of developing improved quantitative assessments of risk and better calculations of the actuarial present value of future loss costs based on the new statistically significant information gained from genetic testing. The strengths and weaknesses and facts and fallacies of each of these perspectives are examined in this paper, and potential solutions to the ultimate role of genetic testing in insurance underwriting and rate making are considered from the perspectives of the major players in this debate.     

我国保险公司诚信体系建设的博弈分析

我国保险业处于诚信严重缺失的状况,解决诚信问题需要把握保险公司的经营目标。本文从博弈论的视角分析了保险市场中竞争状况和由于竞争导致诚信缺失的原因。现阶段保险公司亟需监管部门给予有效指引,使竞争机制能够对保险业诚信产生有利导向。我国可以通过建立顾客满意度测评体系、完善保险公司投诉制度、加强保险公司诚信监管等手段来促进我国保险公司诚信体系的建设。     

加快保险信息化发展提升我国保险行业竞争力

保险信息化是信息技术在保险领域中广泛应用而引起的一场保险业革命,它将促使保险机构更加贴近市场和客户,提供个性化、差异化的服务,提升企业核心竞争力,促进保险业的长远发展.我国保险业在硬件设备、系统集成和应用程序开发等方面还存在较大差距,信息技术在经营管理中的应用程度还不高,应加快保险信息化发展,提升我国保险行业竞争力.     

我国产险公司承保亏损原因分析及建议

近年来,我国产险市场保持快速增长,但自2006年起承保效益连续出现大面积亏损,严重影响产险公司偿付能力。本文分析了产险公司承保效益情况,并剖析了造成普遍亏损的原因,认为要扭转产险行业普遍亏损的现状,保险企业要转变经营理念,提升自身经营绩效及经营水平;保险监管部门要在尊重市场规律基础上,推出有效的监管措施,为促进有序竞争提供制度保障。