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on Insurance Economics |
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Issue of 2019‒01‒21
twenty papers chosen by Soumitra K. Mallick Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management |
| By: | Katica Tomic (Rechtsanwalte BVM) |
| Abstract: | Directors and officers ("D&O") are required to act in a good faith and in the best interests of the corporation and to ensure that, the corporation is managed in accordance with the corporation's articles of incorporation and internal by-laws. D&O are personally liable for actions committed by the corporation within their scope of authority, and their own personal assets are at the risk in the event of a lawsuit against the corporation and its management or corporate insolvency. Today's complex business, legal and regulatory environment have increased the number of disputes involving the personal liability of D&O and D&O insurance, and the option of the more efficient, flexible, expert, and enforceable dispute resolution mechanisms, becomes the substantial interest of the parties involved. In this article, we discuss the general principles of D&O liability and D&O insurance, and relevant court cases concerning D&O liability and insurance coverage disputes in EU Law. Having in mind basic characteristics of modern insurance regulations, in particular, the need to protect a policyholders' interests and insurance customers and the premise that classic (commercial) arbitration is not a priori suitable for D&O insurance disputes, the author advocates introduction of specific integrated arbitration proceedings for D&O insurance cases. By assessing arbitration proceedings in D&O insurance, this analyze allows us to draw conclusion on whether the resolution of D&O insurance disputes by means of arbitration should be considered more often, or court litigation is more suitable for D&O insurance cases. |
| Keywords: | D&O liability insurance, EU Law, arbitration provisions, insurance companies, insurance coverage, integrated arbitration proceedings |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:jpaper:011kt&r=all |
| By: | Walid Merouani (Centre de Recherche en Economie Appliquée pour le Développement (ALGERIE)); Nacer-Eddine Hammouda; Claire El Moudden |
| Abstract: | This article challenges the topic of low demand for social insurance by exploring an original survey in the Algerian labor market. Related literature has focused on the efficiency of social insurance systems and discussed their ability to cover everyone. On the other hand, empirical studies highlighted the role of socio-demographic factors in understanding the low social insurance coverage. But the use of behavioral economics tools is still scarce in this field. This article highlights the impact of time discounting and knowledge of social policy on the demand for social insurance. To make the result more robust, we use the discrete choice model. The outcome clearly shows that forward looking and knowing social security rules increase the participation to social insurance system. Furthermore, we confirm the role of age, gender, income and education, to be significant determinants of social insurance demand. We argue these conclusions should have practical policy implications. |
| Date: | 2018–06–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1212&r=all |
| By: | Ibrahim Al Hawarin (Al-Hussein Bin Talal University); Irène Selwaness |
| Abstract: | Jordan has undergone a profound social security reform since 2010, primarily aiming to ensure the financial sustainability of the system over time. The reform measures mainly included increasing the age of early retirement and the minimum contributions required to claim it, increasing employee and employer monthly contributions, covering even micro firms (with at least one employee), and allowing the self-employed and inactive housewives to voluntarily participate. Using data from the 2010 and 2016 Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey (JLMPS), this paper examines the dynamics of Jordanian workers’ access to social security before and after the 2010 reform and the coverage incidence across different firm sizes and workers’ characteristics. The paper also explores the time it takes to acquire social security coverage on the labor market before and after the reform. Moreover, trends in early retirement incidence among middle-aged male workers are examined. Our findings show that the overall incidence of social insurance coverage appears to slightly increase in 2016, for private sector wage workers, irregular wage workers, and non-wage workers (employers and self-employed). Workers starting in the public sector were the most likely to acquire social insurance coverage at the start of their jobs, followed by the private wage workers inside establishment. Both men and women who started their first job after the 2010 reform experienced a decline in their proportion of acquiring social insurance coverage upon their job start. Moreover, the average incidence of early retirement slightly declined among men while still being highly prevalent around ages 40-46. |
| Date: | 2018–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1185&r=all |
| By: | Thomas G. McGuire; Sonja Schillo; Richard C. van Kleef |
| Abstract: | Reinsurance can complement risk adjustment of health plan payments to improve fit of payments to plan spending at the individual and group level. This paper proposes three improvements in health plan payment systems using reinsurance. First, we base reinsurance payments on spending not accounted for by the risk adjustment system, rather than just high spending. Second, we propose pairing reinsurance for individual-level losses with repayments for individual-level profits. Third, we optimize the weights on the risk adjustors taking account of the presence of reinsurance/repayment. We implement our methodology in data from Germany, The Netherlands and the U.S. Marketplaces, comparing our modified approach to plan payment with risk adjustment as currently practiced in the three settings. The combination of the three improvements yields very substantial improvements in the individual-level fit of payments to plan spending in all three countries. |
| JEL: | I10 I11 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25374&r=all |
| By: | Huang, Shan (DIW Berlin); Salm, Martin (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | Starting from December 2012, insurers in the European Union were prohibited from charging gender-discriminatory prices. We examine the effect of this unisex mandate on risk segmentation in the German health insurance market. While gender used to be a pricing factor in Germany's private health insurance (PHI) sector, it was never used as a pricing factor in the social health insurance (SHI) sector. The unisex mandate makes PHI relatively more attractive for women and less attractive for men. Based on data from the SOEP we analyze how the unisex mandate affects the difference between women and men in switching rates between SHI and PHI. We find that the unisex mandate increases the probability of switching from SHI to PHI for women relative to men. This effect is strongest for self-employed individuals and mini-jobbers. On the other hand, the unisex mandate had no effect on the gender difference in switching rates from PHI to SHI. Because women have on average higher health care expenditures than men, our results imply a reduction of advantageous selection into PHI. Our results demonstrate that regulatory measures such as the unisex mandate can reduce risk selection between public and private health insurance sectors. |
| Keywords: | unisex mandate, public and private health insurance, risk selection, Germany |
| JEL: | I13 D82 H51 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11988&r=all |
| By: | Douadia Bougherara (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Laurent Piet (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AGROCAMPUS OUEST) |
| Abstract: | A growing number of studies in finance and economics seek to explain insurance choices using the assumptions advanced by behavioral economics. One recent example in agricultural economics is the use of cumulative prospect theory (CPT) to explain farmer choices regarding crop insurance coverage levels (Babcock, 2015). We build upon this framework by deriving willingness to pay (WTP) for insurance programs under alternative assumptions, thus extending the model to incorporate farmer decisions regarding whether or not to purchase insurance. Our contribution is twofold. First, we study the sensitivity of farmer WTP for crop insurance to the inclusion of CPT parameters. We find that loss aversion and probability distortion increase WTP for insurance while risk aversion decreases it. Probability distortion in losses plays a particularly important role. Second, we study the impact of yield distribution skewness on farmer WTP assuming CPT preferences. We find that WTP decreases when the distribution of yields moves from negatively- to positively-skewed and that the combined effect of probability weighting in losses and skewness has a large negative impact on farmer WTP for crop insurance. |
| Keywords: | Crop Insurance,Cumulative Prospect Theory,premium subsidy,skewness |
| Date: | 2018–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01947417&r=all |
| By: | Holly Matulewicz; Karen Katz; Todd Honeycutt; Jacqueline Kauff; Joseph Mastrianni; Adele Rizzuto; Claire Smither Wulsin |
| Abstract: | This report presents findings on the implementation and operation of the CaPROMISE program, which was designed to (1) provide educational, vocational, and other services to SSI youth and their families and (2) improve service coordination among state and local agencies serving that population. |
| Keywords: | disability, SSI, youth, employment, education, PROMISE |
| JEL: | I J |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:ebe4f28420dd4a7987ef9398ea1a7f2e&r=all |
| By: | John Kregel |
| Abstract: | This study examined the effect of overpayments on the employment retention of working Social Security beneficiaries. |
| Keywords: | Social Security Disability Insurance, overpayments, work incentives planning and assistance |
| JEL: | I J |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:95024d185e3b41f0a9b07be8227585bb&r=all |
| By: | Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel; Mussa, Essa Chanie; Gerber, Nicolas; von Braun, Joachim |
| Abstract: | While community-based health insurance (CBHI) becomes increasingly integrated into health systems in developing countries, there is still limited research and evidence on its probable health impacts beyond its functions for health financing or for facilitating access to services. Using a cross-sectional data from rural south-west Uganda, we apply a two-stage residual inclusion instrumental variables method to study the impact of community health insurance on stunting in children under five years. Results indicate that each year a household was enrolled in insurance was causally associated with a reduction in the probability of stunting of 5.7 percentage points. Predictive marginal effects show that children in households which have had insurance for at least 5 years had a probability of stunting of only 0.353 compared to 0.531 for children in households with no insurance. Households in CBHI were more likely to attend more free antenatal and postnatal care visits and report fewer illnesses and reported less health expenditures. Moreover, CBHI enrolment was also associated with reduced health costs. We recommend that developing countries should facilitate the expansion of community health insurance scheme not only for their contribution to health financing but even more for mortality and morbidity aversion. |
| Keywords: | Health Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2019–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:281279&r=all |
| By: | Kellie Ottoboni; Jason Poulos |
| Abstract: | This paper extends a method of estimating population average treatment effects to settings with noncompliance. Simulations show the proposed compliance-adjusted estimator performs better than its unadjusted counterpart when compliance is relatively low and can be predicted by observed covariates. We apply the proposed estimator to measure the effect of Medicaid coverage on health care use for a target population of adults who may benefit from expansions to the Medicaid program. We draw randomized control trial data from a large-scale health insurance experiment in which a small subset of those randomly selected to receive Medicaid benefits actually enrolled. |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1901.02991&r=all |
| By: | Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel; Mussa, Essa Chanie; Nshakira, Nathan; Gerber, Nicolas; von Braun, Joachim |
| Abstract: | Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes have emerged as strong pathways to universal health coverage in developing countries. Their examination has largely focussed on their impacts on financial protection and on the utilisation of curative health services. However, very little is known about their possible effect on utilisation of preventive health services and strategies and yet developing countries continue to carry a burden of easily preventable illnesses. To understand if this effect exists, we carry out a cross-sectional survey in communities served by a large CBHI scheme in rural south-western Uganda. We then apply inverse probability weighting of the propensity score to analyse quasiexperimental associations. We find that the probabilities for using long-lasting mosquito nets, vitamin A and iron supplementation and child deworming were significantly increased with participation in CBHI. We postulate that this effect is partly due to information diffusion and social learning within CBHI-participating burial groups. This work gives insight into the broader effects of CBHI in developing countries, beyond financial protection and utilisation of hospital-based services. |
| Keywords: | Health Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2019–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:281280&r=all |
| By: | Petr Jakubik; Eveline Turturescu (EIOPA) |
| Abstract: | As a consequence of the ongoing low-yield environment, insurers are changing their business models and looking for new investment opportunities to deliver the required return. This paper focuses on investments in equities and main drivers of their changes in insurers’ portfolios. In this respect, an empirical analysis for a period before and after the Solvency II introduction using both panel and pool regression was conducted. The obtained results suggest that macroeconomic as well as company specific indicators could explain changes in shares of equities in insurers’ portfolios. |
| Keywords: | insurance, equity investments, Solvency II |
| JEL: | G11 G12 G22 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eio:thafsr:12&r=all |
| By: | Lorenzo Danieli; Petr Jakubik (EIOPA) |
| Abstract: | This article proposes an Early Warning System model composed of macro-financial and company-specific indicators that could help to anticipate a potential market distress in the European insurance sector. A distress is defined as periods in which insurance companies’ equity prices crash and CDS spreads spike simultaneously. The model is estimated using a sample of 43 insurance companies that are listed. Based on a panel binomial logit specification, empirical evidence shows that economic overheating that could be manifested by high economic growth and inflation as well as high interest rates have negative impact on insurance sector stability. At the company level, increasing operating expenses increase the likelihood of distress occurrence. |
| Keywords: | early warning system, insurance sector, financial distress |
| JEL: | G01 G12 G22 E44 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eio:thafsr:13&r=all |
| By: | Gerald D. Jaynes (Department of Economics, Yale University) |
| Abstract: | I model ?nancial markets that structure decision-making into discrete points separating contract o?ers, applications, and acceptance/denial decisions. Endogenous beliefs about applicants’ risk types emerge as the institutional process extracts private information allowing uninformed ?rms to infer risk qualities by comparing applications of many consumers. Endogenous beliefs and low-risk consumer behavior render truthful disclosure of transactions incentive compatible supporting a unique equilibrium robust to cream-skimming and cross-subsidizing deviations, even under Hellwig’s “secret” policy assumption. In equilibrium each type demands low-risk’s optimal pooling policy and high-risk supplement to full coverage at fair-price. Nonpassive consumers’ belief ?rms are sequentially rational necessary for equilibrium; lemon equilibrium with only high-risk insured possible. |
| Keywords: | Adverse selection, Sequential rationality, Screening, Signaling, Incentive compatibility, Insurance pooling |
| JEL: | D82 G22 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2159&r=all |
| By: | Alyssa Maccarone; Amy Gehrke; Nancy Clusen |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this issue brief is to assess how urgent care utilization of non-active duty Prime beneficiaries, who were eligible for the pilot program, compares to other TRICARE and non-TRICARE beneficiaries’ urgent care utilization. |
| Keywords: | urgent care center, nurse line, TRICARE urgent care policy, military health care |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:f814d1615c234e578e7ece6aa6c8f752&r=all |
| By: | Hector Galindo-Silva; Nibene Habib Some; Guy Tchuente |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the use of fuzzy regression-discontinuity design in the context where multiple treatments are applied at the threshold. The identification result shows that, under a very strong assumption of equality of treatment probability changes at the cutoff point, a difference in fuzzy discontinuity identify a treatment effect of interest. Using the data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), we apply this identification strategy to evaluate the causal effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on health care access and utilization of old Americans. We find results suggesting that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has led to an increase in the hospitalization rate of elderly American--5% more hospitalization. It has caused a minor increase of cost-related direct barrier to access to care--3.6% increase in the probability of delaying care for cost reasons. The ACA has also exacerbated cost-related barriers to follow-up and continuity care -- 7% more elderly couldn't afford prescriptions, 7% more couldn't see a specialist and, 5.5% more couldn't afford a follow-up visit -- as result of ACA |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1812.06537&r=all |
| By: | Ann S. O’Malley; Eugene C. Rich; Rumin Sarwar; Eli Schultz; W. Cannon Warren; Tanya Shah; Melinda K. Abrams |
| Abstract: | ACOs use a range of approaches to segment, or group, their sickest and costliest patients by the level of care management they require. By engaging primary care clinicians’ help in subdividing the high-need, high-cost (HCHN) patient population, ACOs can increase the usefulness of results and frontline providers’ willingness to use them. |
| Keywords: | Accountable Care Organizations, High-Need High-Cost Patients, population segmentation, risk stratification |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:b1df5fe0e06949d29c0987d836a43c94&r=all |
| By: | Bonnie Harvey; Amy Gehrke; Kevin Shang; Nancy Clusen |
| Abstract: | Using data from the 2015 Health Care Survey of Department of Defense Beneficiaries (HCSDB), this issue brief investigates patients’ experiences selecting specialists, obtaining referrals, and coordinating with PCMs 12 months prior to the survey (per Consumer Assessment of Health Plans and Systems—CAHPS, protocol). |
| Keywords: | Referrals to Specialists, TRICARE, health maintenance organization, HMO, primary care manager, PCM, health care system |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:f364489958bb4f9d88b7144d60c856c7&r=all |
| By: | Anna Godøy; Ingrid Huitfeldt (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | Geographic variation in healthcare utilization has raised concerns of possible inefficiencies in healthcare supply, as differences are often not reflected in health outcomes. Using comprehensive Norwegian microdata, we exploit cross-region migration to analyze regional variation in healthcare utilization. Our results indicate that hospital region factors account for half of the total variation, while the rest reflect variation in patient demand. We find no statistically significant association between the estimated hospital region effects and overall mortality rates. However, we document a negative association with relative utilization-intensive causes of death such as cancer, suggesting high-supply regions may achieve modestly improved health outcomes. |
| Keywords: | healthcare supply; healthcare demand; healthcare spending; regional variation; health outcomes |
| JEL: | H51 I1 I11 I13 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:890&r=all |
| By: | Ingrid Huitfeldt (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | Healthcare providers’ response to payment incentives may have consequences for both fiscal spending and patient health. This paper studies the effects of a change in the payment scheme for hospitals in Norway. In 2010, payments for patients discharged on the day of admission were substantially decreased, while payments for stays lasting longer than one day were increased. This gave hospitals incentives to shift patients from one-day stays to two-day stays, or to decrease the admission of one-day stays. I study hospital responses by exploiting the variable size of price changes across diagnoses in a difference-in-differences framework. I find no evidence that hospitals respond to price changes, and capacity constraints do not appear to explain this finding. Results imply that the current payment policy yields little scope for policymakers to affect the healthcare spending and treatment choices. |
| Keywords: | Provider incentives; hospital reimbursement; price response; capacity constraints |
| JEL: | H51 H75 I11 I18 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:889&r=all |