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on Insurance Economics |
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Issue of 2006‒09‒23
four papers chosen by Soumitra K Mallick Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Bussiness Management |
| By: | Gerke, Wolfgang; Mager, Ferdinand; Reinschmidt, Timo; Schmieder, Christian |
| Abstract: | With this paper we seek to contribute to the literature on pension insurance systems. The financial literature tends to focus exclusively on the US pension insurance system. This is the first major empirical study to address the German occupational pension insurance (PSVaG) plan in Germany. The study is based on a Merton-type one-factor model, in which we determine the credit portfolio risk profile of the occupational pension insurance plan and compare two alternative pricing plans. We find that there is a low, yet non-negligible risk of very high losses that may threaten the existence of the occupational pension insurance plan (PSVaG). While relating risk premiums to firms’ default probabilities would cause them to diverge widely, a marginal risk contribution method would produce less pronounced differences compared to the current, uniform pricing plan. |
| Keywords: | Pension insurance, Risk-adjusted premiums, Credit portfolio risk |
| JEL: | C15 G18 G22 G23 G28 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdp2:4772&r=ias |
| By: | Yuliya Demyanyk (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis); Charlotte Ostergaard (Norwegian School of Management and Norges Bank); Bent E. Sørensen (University of Houston and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effects of deregulation of U.S. banking restrictions on the amount of interstate personal income insurance during the period 1970–2001. Interstate income insurance occurs when personal income reacts less than one-to-one to state-specific shocks to output. We find that income insurance improved after banking deregulation, and that this effect is larger in states where small businesses are more important. We further show that the impact of deregulation is stronger for proprietors’ income than other components of personal income. Our explanation of this result centers on the role of banks as a prime source of small business finance and on the close intertwining of the personal and business finances of small business owners. Our analysis casts light on the real effects of bank deregulation, on the risk sharing function of banks, and on the integration of bank markets. |
| Keywords: | Financial deregulation, integration of bank markets, interstate risk sharing, small business finance. |
| Date: | 2006–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bno:worpap:2006_09&r=ias |
| By: | Daniel Polsky; Jalpa A. Doshi; Jose Escarce; Willard Manning; Susan M. Paddock; Liyi Cen; Jeannette Rogowski |
| Abstract: | We study how the trajectory of health for the near-elderly uninsured changes upon enrolling into Medicare at the age of 65. We find that Medicare increases the probability of the previously uninsured having excellent or very good health, decreases their probability of being in good health, and has no discernable effects at lower health levels. Surprisingly, we found Medicare had a similar effect on health for the previously insured. This suggests that Medicare helps the relatively healthy 65 year olds, but does little for those who are already in declining health once they reach the age of 65. The improvement in health between the uninsured and insured were not statistically different from each other. The stability of insurance coverage afforded by Medicare may be the source of the health benefit suggesting that universal coverage at other ages may have similar health effects. |
| JEL: | I1 J14 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12511&r=ias |
| By: | Martti Kulvik; Ismo Linnosmaa; Raine Hermans |
| Keywords: | technology, health care, costs |
| JEL: | I11 L65 |
| Date: | 2006–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:dpaper:1037&r=ias |