nep-ias 2005-02-20 papers

on Insurance Economics

Issue of 2005‒02‒20
two papers chosen by
Soumitra K Mallick
Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Bussiness Management

Obesity, Disability, and Movement Onto the Disability Insurance Rolls By Richard V. Burkhauser; John Cawley
The interface between Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility and its relevance for the financial and insurance sector By Van den Berghe, L.; Louche, C.

Obesity, Disability, and Movement Onto the Disability Insurance Rolls

By:	Richard V. Burkhauser (Cornell University); John Cawley (Cornell University)
Abstract:	Between the early 1980s and 2002, both the prevalence of obesity and the number of beneficiaries of the Social Security Disability Insurance program doubled. We test whether these trends are related; specifically, we test whether obesity causes disability and movement onto the disability rolls. We estimate models of instrumental variables using two nationally representative data sets, the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 Cohort. The results are mixed but we find evidence that weight increases the probability of health-related work limitations and the probability of receiving disability related income. Our results suggest that the failure to treat obesity as endogenous leads to dramatic underestimates of the link between obesity and disability outcomes. Authors’ Acknowledgements We thank seminar participants at Ohio State University and the 2004 Conference of the Social Security Retirement Research Consortium for their helpful comments. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the University of Michigan Retirement Research Consortium and the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center at Cornell University. We thank Shuaizhang Feng for expert research assistance.
Date:	2004–10
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrr:papers:wp089&r=ias

The interface between Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility and its relevance for the financial and insurance sector

By:	Van den Berghe, L.; Louche, C.
Abstract:	Based on the argument that Corporate Social Responsibility is not just a fashion but rather the future from another angle, this paper explores the link between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility in insurance. Although insurance industries have been less exposed to criticisms than other sectors, like any other business, they are subject to increasing societal scrutiny. After a reconsideration of the corporate governance paradigms and mechanisms, the paper analyses the relevance of corporate social responsibility and corporate governance for the insurance sector. It explores its positive and negative externalities and its role as institutional investor. The paper also provides policy recommendations for mainstreaming corporate social responsibility within the sector.
Keywords:	Note
Date:	2005–01–17
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vlg:vlgwps:2004-22&r=ias

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