Effets des réglementations sur la rentabilité et le risque des compagnies d'assurances iard

La réglementation des sociétés d'assurances par les autorités de tutelle impose différentes contraintes aux gestionnaires. Il est difficile d'en apprécier les effets finaux si l'on ne dispose pas d'un modèle d'ensemble de l'entreprise. La rentabilité des compagnies d'assurances dépend de la gestion de l'actif et du passif du bilan, portefeuille déplacements et portefeuille d'assurances. La réglementation intervient pour poser des limites à ces choix sous forme de plafonds en pourcentages pour certains types de placements. Cette étude dans le contexte Canadien met en évidence le coǔt économique, en termes de risque et de rendement, d'une réglementation sur les placements. Abstract The control of insurance companies by the regulatory authorities imposes constraints on the manager's decisions. The companies' profitability is a function of the management of both assets and liabilities. Therefore it depends on the relative importance of the diverse lines of insurance - the insurance portfolio - and relative weight of the various assets - the investment portfolio. Portfolio theory demonstrates that the total risk is a non-linear combination of those component risks in a portfolio. This, in turn, determines the pursuit of the optimal portfolio structure, a structure defined by a minimal risk for a given level of profitability. With such a generalized portfolio model for insurance companies, one could simulate the consequences of the modification of any given regulation on either the assets or liabilities. The combination of risk level and profitability accessible to the companies vary as a function of markets constraints and regulations considered. It is therefore possible to demonstrate the effect, in terms of risk and return framework, of various regulations. The first section of this paper discusses the appropriate approach to the portfolio problem applied to insurance. The second section describes the data and the empirical results.     

Mail advertising and consumer behavior

This paper examines some trends in mail advertising and presents some findings from a longitudinal study on mail sent to and from U.S. households. Data from 1987 and 1991 interviews and diaries of a national probability sample of U.S. households were compared. As the third largest advertising medium, mail has grown in market share in the past decade as traditional advertising media declined or stayed the same. The paper examines how consumers feel, perceive and respond to the advertising mail they receive. It also explores how characteristics of the senders and recipients, factors outside the mail piece and the type of mail piece, influence consumer attitudes, perceptions, and treatment of the mail received. The paper concludes with recommendations to advertisers, marketers, and fundraisers for future research and for increasing the effectiveness of mail in their marketing mix. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Option Bounds and the Pricing of the Volatility Smile

This paper presents a new approach forthe estimation of the risk-neutral probability distribution impliedby observed option prices in the presence of a non-horizontalvolatility smile. This approach is based on theoretical considerationsderived from option pricing in incomplete markets. Instead ofa single distribution, a pair of risk-neutral distributions areestimated, that bracket the option prices defined by the volatilitybid/ask midpoint. These distributions define upper and lowerbounds on option prices that are consistent with the observableoption parameters and are the tightest ones possible, in thesense of minimizing the distance between the option upper andlower bounds. The application of the new approach to a sampleof observations on the S&P 500 option market showsthat the bounds produces are quite tight, and also that theirderivation is robust to the presence of violations of arbitragerelations in option quotes, which cause many other methods tofail.     

采用PRA进行哈尼族地区贫困原因分析

采用参与性农村评估 (PRA)中的问题树和排序等方法 ,对云南省绿春县的哈尼族村寨进行贫困原因分析。结果发现造成该地区贫困的主要原因是 :⑴人口剧增 ,造成耕地不足 ;⑵口粮不够 ,造成对土地的过度开垦 ;⑶经济结构单一 ,土地利用不合理 ,导致森林破坏 ;⑷森林破坏 ,导致水源短缺和水土流失严重 ,进一步减少良田面积 ;⑸水资源管理不合理 ,加剧水源的短缺。针对该地区的实际情况 ,建议发展项目应从环境保护和扶贫相结合的方向发展。     

INFLATION, REDISTRIBUTION OF FACTORS AND UNEMPLOYMENT: ILLUSTRATED BY THE CASE OF FRANCE

This paper examines the causes and consequences of the inflationary process in terms of its impact upon the national accounting flows, illustrated by the case of France during the period 1966–76. The first section of the paper discusses the apparent causes of inflation, and lays out the circuits through which inflation is propagated. The second section looks behind the apparent causes to examine more closely the reasons for the observed behavior. The final section considers the consequences of inflation in terms of factor allocation, and in turn its impact upon unemployment, the balance of payments, and the rate of growth.     

Energy use and fruits and vegetables

The consumer has many options to save energy through small dietary changes. With no change in the variety of fruits and vegetables eaten, the consumer can save considerable amounts of energy by bringing them to the table without use of a home freezer, frequent long distance shopping trips and oven cooking. Other conservation measures include buying in large containers, eating uncooked food, using fresh produce rather than canned or frozen, except in the case of frozen juice concentrates, and having a home fruit and vegetable garden.