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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

Gender discrimination, optimal allocation and partial-pooling Nash equilibrium : essays on insurance markets with a participation option

Xie, Gang January 2009 (has links)
The thesis is made up of three essays which study three related topics. The first essay examines the welfare effect of a non-discrimination policy, which bans using gender in pricing insurance in the context of motor insurance markets. It comprises two models. The first models comprehensive insurance markets, in which motorists decide whether to buy insurance that offers full coverage. The second model examines third-party insurance markets, in which motorists must be fully insured and agents decide whether to drive. The essay examines the welfare effects of the non-discrimination policy by examining the change of aggregate social welfare before and after the policy is implemented. It shows that in comprehensive insurance market typical adverse selection happens. Aggregate social welfare may increase or decrease. In third-party insurance market, advantageous selection happens. Aggregate social welfare may decrease after the policy implemented. The second essay endogenizes insurance coverage and finds the optimal allocation which maximizes aggregate social welfare. Agents can now choose whether to drive and whether to buy insurance, and insurers are allowed to offer a menu of cross-subsidizing insurance contracts in competitive insurance markets. The author finds pooling allocation can never maximize aggregate social welfare and the market may end up with too much insurance. The third essay examines market equilibrium and market efficiency in competitive insurance markets when agents differ in both risk probabilities and risk preferences, and can choose whether to participate in risky activity and whether to buy insurance. With different levels of risk probabilities, risk preferences, and driving benefit, the market may end up with four different separating equilibria, partial-pooling equilibrium, or even no equilibrium. The partial-pooling equilibrium is Pareto efficient under certain conditions. If it is inefficient, taxing insurance breaks the equilibrium and separating equilibrium arises, which leads to Pareto gain.
2

The financial impact of genetic information on the insurance industry

Yu, Fei January 2010 (has links)
This thesis discusses the overall impact of genetic information on the insurance industry using the \bottom-up" approach, in which individual studies of each genetic disorder of interest are studied ¯rst. We review ¯ve relevant individual studies of adult polycystic kidney disease (APKD), early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD), Huntington's disease (HD), hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), breast & ovarian cancer (BC & OC), and use myotonic dystrophy (MD) to exemplify the methodology of the \bottom- up" approach, and bring these together to quantify the overall impact of genetic informa- tion in both the critical illness (CI) insurance and the life insurance market. We also carry out an individual study of OC in the income protect insurance (IPI) market. We conclude that in most cases the cost of adverse selection is negligible and should not cause signif- icant concerns for insurers, especially when we consider other factors, e.g. development of health care and general trend of mortality improvement, which greatly overwhelm the genetic risk. Further this thesis models the colorectal cancer (CRC) screening program as an example and conclude that the CRC screening program appears to reduce the genetic risk by about the same magnitude.
3

Insurance, a risk transfer mechanism : evidence from Nigeria's financial services sector

Fadun, Solomon Olajide January 2015 (has links)
The study critically explores purchase and use of insurance by financial services firms (FSFs) in Nigeria to manage risks associated with their operations. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques are used for the study. Mixed-method design and methodological triangulation are adopted to ensure a holistic understanding of purchase and use of insurance by FSFs in Nigeria. Four data collections methods (Le. the literature, document analysis, survey and elite interview) are utilised for the study. The study adopted interpretivist philosophy, and theoretical foundation of the study was developed based on Knight (1921) classical theory of risk. Risk management does not eliminate uncertainty; rather, it minimises financial consequences of uncertainty. Insurance is part of wider and integrated system of risk management. In the past, it was thought that risk aversion motive is the primary motive in the literature for purchasing insurance since Pratt (1964) and Arrow (1971 ). However, risk aversion does not satisfactorily explain corporate demand for insurance as firms are considered less risk-averse than individuals (Mains, 1983; MacMinn, 1987; Mayers and Smith, 1990; Yamori, 1999; Goldberg, 2009). The literature revealed that studies on corporate demand for insurance in the literature have been carried out in the context of developed countries; thereby, providing little insight in terms of analysis on purchase and use of insurance by firms in developing countries, such as Nigeria. The study fills the gap, thereby contributing to knowledge. Moreover, beside those factors influencing corporate demand for insurance in the literature; the study identifies an additional factor influencing FSFs (corporate) insurance purchase practices which suggested that: institutional/corporate (including FSFs) ownership or interest in insurance company influence corporate demand for insurance. This implies that there is a positive correlation between FSFs (institutional) ownership or interest in insurance companies, and insurance companies from which FSFs purchased insurance. This is a plausible finding and contribution to knowledge as the literature does not indicate that institutional ownership or interest in insurance company influence corporate demand for insurance. The study identified insurance policies that are suitable for managing risks associated with FSFs operations; and highlighted factors that influence insurance purchase practices of FSFs in Nigeria. Generally, the findings suggested that: insurance is suitable for managing FSF risk exposures; FSFs in Nigeria purchase and use insurance to manage risks associated with their operations; Nigeria's FSFs which have insurance company subsidiaries (parent or sister) purchase insurance partly or wholly from their insurance subsidiaries.
4

Takaful products and services in Saudi Arabia : an exploration into policyholder's perceptions and regulatory framework

Alnemer, Hashem Abdullah January 2012 (has links)
Takaful is the Islamic counterpart of conventional insurance, where it relies on a combination of tabarru (donation) and agency or profit-sharing. The takaful fund is considered a musharaka (partnership) among participants (policyholders). The relationship between the takaful operator and participants’ fund is based on either wakala contracts to manage the underwriting activities, and/or a mudaraba contracts to manage the underwriting or investment activities. Participants (Policyholders) in the takaful scheme are the main stakeholders; their equity consists of ownership of the underwriting activities and the investment funds. Participants’ relationship with Takaful Operators (TOs) depends on the percentage of the contributions premium they pay. They have a claim on assets of these funds in case of liquidation and they are entitled to have their claim paid if there is enough underwriting funds to finance payout; they are also entitled to share in the distribution of any investment and underwriting surplus. However, the only right that participants can exert on the takaful scheme is to disconnect their contractual relationship with the company in case of dissatisfactions. Participants’ undeserved rights might be due to management prioritizing interest towards shareholders as they are the main stewards of the takaful company. In other words, one of the main challenges faced in the takaful industry is shareholders and management discretions, power and activities due to the unclear structure of the takaful operational scheme. The Takaful operational scheme should follow the two-tier hybrid structure (mutual and proprietorship) as it has been identified by the prominent regulatory bodies such as AAOIFI and IFSB. However, almost all regulators, of which the Saud Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) is one, treat the TOs as a proprietorship, as it can be easily regulated and supervised which requires an identified share capital and shareholders. The main aim of this study, hence, is to recommend proper protection channels for participants, by conducting two parallel ways research, (i) exploring participants’ perceptions, knowledge, preferences and satisfactions levels about the service and products presented by the TOs in Saudi Arabia (ii) reviewing and comparing the current directives and laws imposed by the Saudi insurance regulatory authorities with the standards and polices imposed by the international insurance and takaful bodies. In fulfilling the aim of the study, primary data collection research was adopted through a survey questionnaire technique. The questionnaire was structured with 4 main dimensions (Disclosure, Knowledge, Preference and Satisfaction) with a total of 26 variables to cover the research objectives and themes. The survey questionnaire was distributed to 9 TOs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A total of 300 out of 500 returned questionnaires were complete and found fit for analysis purposes. The data were analysed using various statistical analysis techniques ranging from simple frequency distribution analysis to the more advanced analyses such as non-parametric statistical analysis, Spearman’s correlation and multinomial logistic regression. In general, the results of the study show that participants’ overall perceptions and knowledge on TOs services and products is low, while participants reported high overall preferences which implies that participants are demanding more services from the TOs as they have more wants and needs. In term of satisfaction levels, participants reported a weak to moderate satisfaction levels, as a result of participants’ low perception, weak knowledge and high preferences which was obvious from the significant relationship between participants perceptions, knowledge and preferences as independent variables with participants’ satisfaction levels as dependant variables. In other words, in order for the TOs to satisfy their participants, they need to disclose more detailed information about different sorts of financial returns (investment return and underwriting surplus), as participants are financially motivated and there is no effect at all for religious motivation. The results of reviewing and comparing SAMA with the international insurance and takaful bodies, indicated that SAMA did not implement directive laws that address the takaful business nor any directive that address Shari’ah issues. Accordingly, it is highly recommended that SAMA adopts the well-established Corporate Governance and Market Conduct & Disclosure standards and polices that have been set by the international bodies such as AAOIFI and IFSB for better protection for the takaful participants in Saudi Arabia. The results of the research have established effective instrumental tools to measure the desired environment that should be available for the perspective policyholders and participants for their ultimate protection. These tools are based on participants’ perceptions, knowledge, preferences and satisfaction levels and based on the country’s regulatory assessments to support and protect participants’ and policyholders’ rights in the takaful fund.
5

Sources of adverse selection in insurance markets with genetic information

Adams, Craig J. January 2014 (has links)
In this thesis we quantify costs of adverse selection in insurance markets where there are multiple sources of adverse selection. We aim to find the relative impact of genetic information as one of these sources. Using new data on the effects of components of a polygenic model of breast cancer, we model adverse selection in a critical illness insurance market. We confirm the results of a previous study, which used a simpler polygene model without details of particular genes, that polygenes pose a greater source of adverse selection risk than the major genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2). In a start-up market for long-term insurance, we model the progression of adverse selection costs over time, where premiums are repriced to adapt to the information the insurer gains about its business mix from its claims experience. In a U.K. setting we find the greatest costs of adverse selection come from a hypothetical intermediate stage of dementia progression which is not visible to an insurer, while testing of the APOE gene poses very little risk. We find the U.K. government's proposed cap on care liability has very little impact on adverse selection costs, as it benefits a very small proportion of people.
6

Insurance and resource allocation : a study of moral hazard in insurance systems

Doherty, N. A. January 1979 (has links)
No description available.
7

Insurance loss coverage under restricted risk classification

Hao, Mingjie January 2017 (has links)
Insurers hope to make profit through pooling policies from a large number of individuals. Unless the risk in question is similar for all potential customers, an insurer is exposed to the possibility of adverse selection by attracting only high-risk individuals. To counter this, insurers have traditionally employed underwriting principles, identifying suitable risk factors to subdivide their potential customers into homogeneous risk groups, based on which risk-related premiums can be charged. In reality, however, insurers may not have all the information reflecting individuals' risks due to information asymmetry or restrictions on using certain risk factors by regulators. In either case, conventional wisdom suggests that the absence of risk classification in an insurance market is likely to lead to a vicious circle: increasing premium with the prime aim to recover losses from over-subscription by high risks would lead to more low risks dropping out of the market; and eventually leading to a collapse of the whole insurance system, i.e. an adverse selection spiral. However, this concept is difficult to reconcile with the successful operation of many insurance markets, even in the presence of some restrictions on risk classification by regulators. Theoretical analysis of polices under asymmetric information began in the 1960s and 1970s (Arrow (1963), Pauly (1974), Rothschild & Stiglitz (1976)), by which time the adverse consequences of information asymmetry had already been widely accepted. However, empirical test results of its presence are mixed and varied by markets. Arguably from society's viewpoint, the high risks are those who most need insurance. That is, if the social purpose of insurance is to compensate the population's losses, then insuring high risks contributes more to this purpose than insuring low risks. In this case, restriction on risk classification may be reasonable, otherwise premium for high risks would be too high to be affordable. Thus, the traditional insurers' risk classification practices might be considered as contrary to this social purpose. To highlight this issue, ''loss coverage'' was introduced in Thomas (2008) as the expected population losses compensated by insurance. A higher loss coverage indicates that a higher proportion of the population's expected losses can be compensated by insurance. This might be a good result for the population as a whole. A corollary of this concept is that, from a public policy perspective, adverse selection might not always be a bad thing. The author argued that a moderate degree of adverse selection could be negated by the positive influence of loss coverage. Therefore, when analysing the impact of restricting insurance risk classification, loss coverage might be a better measure than adverse selection. In this thesis, we model the outcome in an insurance market where a pooled premium is charged as a result of an absence of risk-classification. The outcome is characterised by four quantities: equilibrium premium, adverse selection, loss coverage and social welfare. Social welfare is defined as the total expected utility of individuals (including those who buy insurance and those who do not buy insurance) at a given premium. Using a general family of demand functions (of which iso-elastic demand and negative-exponential demand are examples) with a non-decreasing demand elasticity function with respect to premium, we first analyse the case when low and high risk-groups have the same constant demand elasticity. Then we generalise the results to the case where demand elasticities could be different. In general, equilibrium premium and adverse selection increase monotonically with demand elasticity, but loss coverage first increases and then decreases. The results are consistent with the ideas proposed by Thomas (2008, 2009) that loss coverage will be increased if a moderate degree of adverse selection is tolerated. Furthermore, we are able to show that, for iso-elastic demand with equal demand elasticities for high and low risks, social welfare moves in the same direction as loss coverage, i.e. social welfare at pooled premium is higher than at risk-differentiated premiums, when demand elasticity is less than 1. Therefore, we argue that loss coverage may be a better measure than adverse selection to quantify the impact of risk classification scheme being restricted. Moreover, (observable) loss coverage could also be a useful proxy for social welfare, which depends on unobservable utility functions. Therefore, adverse election is not always a bad thing, if demand elasticity is sufficiently low. The research findings should add to the wider public policy debate on these issues and provide necessary research insights for informed decision making by actuaries, regulators, policyholders, insurers, policy-makers, capital providers and other stakeholders.
8

Insurance regulation in the General Agreement on Trade in Services : a model for liberalisation and development in Nigeria

Oyetayo, Yeside Abiodun January 2012 (has links)
This thesis argues that the potential for the development of the Nigerian economy could be enhanced through reforms and unilateral liberalisation of the insurance market using the WTO/GATS model before further locked in commitments. The argument is premised on the analyses of the socio-economic functions of insurance in providing financial stability and welfare for the society and the developmental opportunities within the liberalisation framework of the WTO/GATS as opposed to other alternatives such as regional or bilateral integration. First, the framework serves as a regulatory model on which reforms could be based for efficiency, competitiveness, development and growth. Secondly, it provides a multilateral trading platform guided by trade enhancing rules and principles of the WTO, combined with GATS bottom up approach, progressive liberalisation and technical assistance to developing countries for greater participation in negotiations. Using the doctrinal analysis and the social science survey technique, this study demonstrates that the legislative and supervisory framework of the Nigerian insurance industry is currently inadequate to provide the growth functions. The problems include structural challenges such as low capacity due to small size of firms, obsolete products and unproductive business processes, unethical practices and a supervisory agency lacking adequate resources, powers, and independence. Others are the restrictive trade practices hindering foreign participation coupled with low insurance awareness and penetration. The thesis recommends reforms using the GATS model aimed at streamlining the laws particularly with regards to foreign insurers’ participation and the adoption of a bi-polar system of supervision to meet the current capacity inadequacies of NAICOM. The adoption of risk based regimes and principled based regulation is also recommended before further locked in commitments which would enhance growth and development.
9

Essays on financial and insurance risk management

Siyi, Zhou January 2012 (has links)
This thesis conducts several empirical analyses of important issues in modern quantitative risk management The first exercise examines the joint distribution of changes in agency credit ratings. We estimate both intra- and inter-industry correlations using Maximum Likelihood techniques. The analysis is performed unconditionally and then conditional on de-trended GDP. The latter estimates may be used for macro stress testing in which the credit quality of a portfolio is simulated conditional on a hypothesized future path of real output. Following the financial crisis, banks and regulators are increasingly relying on stress tests to understand portfolio risk. Particularly important has been macro stress testing in which the effects of macroeconomic scenarios on bank portfolios are traced through. The second exercise builds on Pesaran, Schuermann, and Weiner (2004) in devising and implementing macro stress testing techniques for a bank credit portfolio. In contrast to this and earlier studies, richer dependencies of credit market conditions on macroeconomic variables are developed. Specifically, the model allows sovereign ratings, the credit quality of corporate credit exposures (categorized by rating and maturity) and credit spreads to be driven by macroeconomic developments The challenges in understanding enterprise-wide risk are exacerbated when very different financial organizations are combined. The third exercise devises a unified framework for analysing risk in bancassurance organizations and employs this to examine the diversification benefits of conglomerates involving general insurance and traditional banking.
10

Modern mathematical methods for actuarial sciences

Kaya, Ahmet January 2017 (has links)
In the ruin theory, premium income and outgoing claims play an important role. We introduce several ruin type mathematical models and apply various mathematical methods to find optimal premium price for the insurance companies. Quantum theory is one of the significant novel approaches to compute the finite time non-ruin probability. More exactly, we apply the discrete space Quantum mechanics formalism (see main thesis for formalism) and continuous space Quantum mechanics formalism (see main thesis for formalism) with the appropriately chosen Hamiltonians. Several particular examples are treated via the traditional basis and quantum mechanics formalism with the different eigenvector basis. The numerical results are also obtained using the path calculation method and compared with the stochastic modeling results. In addition, we also construct various models with interest rate. For these models, optimal premium prices are stochastically calculated for independent and dependent claims with different dependence levels by using the Frank copula method.

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