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on Insurance Economics |
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Issue of 2007‒10‒06
four papers chosen by Soumitra K Mallick Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Bussiness Management |
| By: | Xavier Giné; Robert Townsend; James Vickery |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the contract design and institutional features of an innovative rainfall insurance policy offered to smallholder farmers in rural India and presents preliminary evidence on the determinants of insurance participation. Insurance take-up is found to be decreasing in basis risk between insurance payouts and income fluctuations, higher among wealthy households, and lower among households that are credit constrained. These results match predictions of a simple neoclassical model appended with borrowing constraints. Other patterns are less consistent with the benchmark model. Namely, participation in village networks and measures of familiarity with the insurance vendor are strongly correlated with insurance take-up decisions, and risk averse households are found to be less, not more, likely to purchase insurance. We present evidence suggesting that these results reflect uncertainty about the product itself, given households' limited experience with it. |
| Keywords: | Insurance, Casualty ; Insurance, Disaster ; Households ; Rural areas ; Human behavior |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:302&r=ias |
| By: | Leo de Haan; Jan Kakes |
| Abstract: | We investigate the capital structure of 350 Dutch insurers during the period 1995-2005. Our main findings are: (1) a small company size, a mutual organisation, high profitability, large equity investments, and being a fire insurer, all contribute to higher solvency margins; (2) minimum solvency requirements from the supervisor are less easy to explain by firm characteristics and do not correlate positively with risk; (3) neither do insurers follow solvency requirements closely; (4) most insurers have surplus capital which, together with a large company size and high profitability, reduces the risk of insolvency. |
| Keywords: | Insurance companies; Capital structure; Solvency requirements |
| JEL: | G22 G32 |
| Date: | 2007–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:145&r=ias |
| By: | Uusitalo, Roope (Labour Institute for Economic Research); Verho, Jouko (Department of Economics, University of Helsinki) |
| Abstract: | In January 2003, the unemployment benefits in Finland were increased for workers with long employment histories. The average benefit increase was 15 per cent for the first 150 days of the unemployment spell. In this paper we evaluate the effect of the benefit increase on the duration of unemployment by comparing the changes in the re-employment hazard profiles among the unemployed who became eligible for the increased benefits to the changes in a comparison group whose benefit structure remained unchanged. We find that the benefit increase reduced the re-employment hazards at the beginning of the unemployment spell. The effect disappears after the eligibility period for the increased benefit expires. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment insurance; duration models |
| JEL: | J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2007–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2007_021&r=ias |
| By: | Carole Roan Gresenz; Jeannette Rogowski; José J. Escarce |
| Abstract: | This research explores social networks and their relationship to access to health care among adult Mexican-Americans. We use data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) linked to data from the 2000 U.S. Census and other data sources. We analyze multiple measures of access to health care. Measures of social networks are constructed at the ZCTA level and include percent of the population that is Hispanic, percent of the population that speaks Spanish, and percent of the population that is foreign-born and Spanish-speaking. Regressions are stratified by insurance status and social network measures are interacted with individual-level measures of acculturation. For insured Mexican-American immigrants, living in an area populated by relatively more Hispanics, more immigrants, or more Spanish-speakers increases access to care. The social network effects are generally stronger for more recent immigrants compared to those who are better established. We find no effects of these characteristics of the local population on access to care for U.S. born Mexican-Americans, suggesting that similarities in race and language may contribute more to the formation of social ties among individuals who are less acculturated to the U.S. Among the uninsured, we find evidence suggesting that social networks defined by ethnicity improve access to care among recent immigrants. A finding particular to the uninsured is the negative influence of percent of the population that is Hispanic and the percent that is Spanish-speaking on access to care among U.S. born Mexican-Americans. The results provide evidence that social networks play an important role in access to health care among Mexican-Americans. The results also suggest the need for further study using additional measures of social networks, analyzing other racial and ethnic groups, and exploring social networks defined by characteristics other than race, language and ethnicity. |
| JEL: | I11 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13460&r=ias |