The Impact of No-Fault Legislation on Automobile Insurance

Abstract

Since its inception, the effectiveness of no-fault legislation has been highly debated. Although some research suggests that no-fault laws are effective in reducing costs, other evidence suggests that the current no-fault systems may not meet the original objectives. This study provides a detailed assessment of the relation of no-fault laws and automobile insurance losses for the period 1994 to 2007. By examining total automobile insurance losses along with liability and personal injury protection losses, we are able to determine if and how specific provisions of the laws are related to claims costs. We find a negative relation between the presence of a no-fault law and total losses, which suggests that no-fault systems are associated with lower losses than the traditional tort system. In addition, an examination of no-fault-only states suggests that specific provisions of no-fault laws, such as thresholds and limitations on benefits, have some effect on losses. With the sunset of Colorado’s no-fault legislation in 2003, the recent passage of Personal Injury Protection Reform in Florida, and proposed federal choice legislation, the overall impact of no-fault as well as the specific components of the laws are of heightened importance to consumers, insurers, and lawmakers.     

AMBITIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ASSESSING MILITARY PERFORMANCE IN CRISIS RESPONSE OPERATIONS

This paper addresses the issue of measuring armed forces’ performance in crisis response operations. By means of interviews (17 respondents) and a large scale survey (1,253 respondents) field and general officers of the Netherlands Armed Forces (NAF) have been questioned on perceived organisational success in crisis response operations. The Dutch officers assess the NAF's performance positively. A number of senior officers are hesitant about the usefulness of measuring the performance of crisis response operations. According to them the context in which the operations are being executed is too complex. Most interviewees, however, are convinced that measuring performance is useful and should be improved. These military leaders express a strong need for criteria to assess their performance on the job.     

Modes of biotechnology assessment in the USA,Japan and Denmark

Since the 1970s technology assessment by public bodies has become generally accepted as necessary. Modes of technology assessment differ from country to country, in terms of degree of institutionalization, acceptance by policy makers and level of public involvement, and these in turn depend on the goals, methods and organizational framework of the particular technology assessment. The varying social and political roles of technology assessment arise out of national political traditions and differing cultural views of technology. This article compares modes of biotechnology assessment in the USA, Japan and Denmark, focusing on the role of public discussion in the policy-making process. By analysing these three different contexts, the article seeks to uncover ways in which the cultural conditioning of technology policy takes place.     

Frequency of observation and the estimation of integrated volatility in deep and liquid financial markets

Using two newly available ultrahigh-frequency datasets, we investigate empirically how frequently one can sample certain foreign exchange and U.S. Treasury security returns without contaminating estimates of their integrated volatility with market microstructure noise. Using the standard realized volatility estimator, we find that one can sample dollar/euro returns as frequently as once every 15 to 20 s without contaminating estimates of integrated volatility; 10-year Treasury note returns may be sampled as frequently as once every 2 to 3 min on days without U.S. macroeconomic announcements, and as frequently as once every 40 s on announcement days. Using a simple realized kernel estimator, this sampling frequency can be increased to once every 2 to 5 s for dollar/euro returns and to about once every 30 to 40 s for T-note returns. These sampling frequencies, especially in the case of dollar/euro returns, are much higher than those that are generally recommended in the empirical literature on realized volatility in equity markets. The higher sampling frequencies for dollar/euro and T-note returns likely reflect the superior depth and liquidity of these markets.     

Genetische Untersuchungen im Versicherungsbereich – Offene Fragen im Rahmen von § 18 GenDG

The paper refers to legal questions that arise in connection with the collection and use of genetic data in the context of private insurance. The content and meaning of § 18 GenDG is described. Then, § 18 GenDG is set in relation to notification requirements out of the VVG. The paper exemplarily emphasizes that, despite the codification of GenDG, specific legal problems arise. Accordingly, the paper provides solutions to overcome these problems. Particular problems refer to the role of genetic data of third parties and according relations to the family history, possibilities to communicate genetic data by the insured in case of medical indication, the ratio of predictive and diagnostic genetic testing and the range of the total limits of § 18 I 2 GenDG.     

Market Response to Investor Sentiment

This paper reconsiders the effect of investor sentiment on stock prices. Our main contribution is that, in addition to the intermediate term return predictability, we also analyze the immediate price reaction to the publication of survey‐based investor sentiment indicators. We find that the sign of the immediate market response is the same as that of the predictability at intermediate time horizons. This is consistent with underreaction to cash flow news or with investor sentiment being related to mispricing. It is inconsistent with the alternative explanations of a rational response to cash flow news or sentiment indicators providing information about future expected returns.     

Freedom of Choice in Technology Strategy? An Analysis of Technology Strategy in the Large Commercial Aircraft Industry

Many companies experience difficult situations as a result of their selected strategy. Strategic management theories implicitly assume that companies have a free choice in setting their strategy. Hence, when companies experience difficult situations this is because of management inadequacy. It is questionable whether companies always have a free choice. This research examines this issue by examining the new product strategies of the two main competitors in the commercial aircraft industry. The development of the A380 aircraft was selected to determine to what extent the companies had a choice in setting their product development strategies. The conclusion is that neither has the alleged freedom for setting its strategy. Implications of this finding are that the strategy theory needs to be adjusted for this choice issue, and that management should not always be held fully responsible for the developing events.     

How Do Investors' Expectations Drive Asset Prices?

Based on an extension of the process of investors' expectations to stochastic volatility we derive asset price processes in a general continuous time pricing kernel framework. Our analysis suggests that stochastic volatility of asset price processes results from the fact that investors do not know the risk of an asset and therefore the volatility of the process of their expectations is stochastic, too. Furthermore, our model is consistent with empirical studies reporting negative correlation between asset prices and their volatility as well as significant variations in the Sharpe ratio.