On the economics of the longevity risk transfer market

We present a model of a longevity risk transfer market with different market players (primary insurers, reinsurers, and capital market investors) and investigate how market dynamics and the market players' roles evolve with progressing market saturation. We find that reinsurers' appetite for longevity risk is the key driver in the early stage of market development. Since diversification benefits with other businesses decrease with every transaction, the reinsurance market is intrinsically antimonopolistic. With the increasing saturation of the reinsurance sector as a whole, its competitiveness shrinks leading to rising expected risk-adjusted returns for capital market investors. We show that in a saturated market, reinsurers should assume the entire longevity risk from primary insurers, diversify it within their business mix, and subsequently pass on only specific (nondiversifiable) components of the longevity risk to the capital markets. Our findings provide valuable suggestions on how to make the best use of the market's limited risk absorption capacity.     

Reviewing the intellectual structure of product modularization: Toward a common view and future research agenda

Product modularization in new product development has attracted considerable interest among scholars and practitioners from diverse fields of specialization. This has resulted in cross-disciplinary diversity in the field, diverting attention from its overall intellectual structure and hindering the development of a common view and shared concepts. Extant research lacks an integrative review, transcending a focal discipline that could identify gaps and ambiguities while making recommendations to advance the field. Considering a period of 30 years (1990–2020), we generate a data set of 2988 citing publications to which we apply a co-citation analysis. Thereby, we uncover the intellectual structure of the field and find three research perspectives that represent key knowledge bases: (1) product system, (2) production system, and (3) organizational system. Delimiting the data set into four periods, we can track developments over time, where we notice an increasing disintegration of the product system perspective, which is rooted in the discipline of engineering design. Within the two other perspectives, we document extensive dynamism in terms of publications, especially in the two most recent periods, indicating an active discussion and a potential receptivity to new trends. For these periods, we also identify an emerging cluster of fundamental publications and an increasing emphasis on the concept of system architecture. Leveraging the synthesis of these results, we forge links between neighboring disciplines and recommend avenues for further research, ideally to develop a more common view.     

Human–machine trans roles conflict in the organization: How sensitive are customers to intelligent robots replacing the human workforce?

In organizations facing digital transformation, intelligent technologies are starting to replace the human workforce. At present, managers delegate tasks to an artificial agent and rarely consider the customer reception of such decisions. This arouses tensions between the main stakeholders of the organization. This paper shows that the rash adaptation of the digital workforce may be perceived as an irresponsible innovation that brings negative consequences for companies. If a task is regarded by customers as dedicated to humans, and managers delegate it to machines, a new type of conflict – human-machine trans roles conflict (HMTRC), appears. This paper intends to show that customers are sensitive to HMTRC. This research uses quantitative methods and consists of three stages. First, people were asked to indicate which tasks in an organization should be performed by (a) humans and (b) machines. According to these results, two leaflets for customers were designed (low vs. high HMTRC). In the second stage, standard procedures were used to construct a scale measuring customer reactions to HMTRC on three dimensions: cognitive, emotional and behavioural. Ultimately, the scale and two leaflets were used to check how customers react to different intensities of HMTRC. The research results show that customers are aware when HMTRC occurs and perceive it negatively (cognitive response). Moreover, it evokes negative emotions (emotional response) and prompts customers to take action against the company in which this conflict takes place (behavioural response). The practical contribution of this research is the three-dimensional scale. It may predict customers' reactions to task delegation with different intensities of HMTRC and help build a technologically sustainable organization.     

Green-tech firm creation in Germany: the role of regional knowledge

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - Due to the increasing awareness on environmental issues, the necessity to implement more sustainable technologies is becoming a central theme...