Assurance Market Research Articles

Responses of academe to quality reforms in higher education: A comparative study of england and Sweden

Background The study to be presented is part of a research programme, InternationaI Stu~ of Higber Education Refirms, being conducted through collaboration between an Eniglish, a Swedish and a Norwegian research team. The aim of the total research programme is to study the changing role of government in the three countries in the creation and execution of higher education policy from the 1970s to the present time; to examine how higher education reforms have been received and implemented or counteracted by academic faculty and academic leaders; and to analyze how reform policies and structural changes have affected the working lives, values, identities and productivity of academics in higher education institutions. An overarching aim is to compare the three countries in these dimensions. An attempt will be made to construct a general comparative framework, using common organizing themes and enlisting salient theories in the descriptive analysis and comparison ofkey political and academic phenomena (Kogan 1995). There exist both similarities in the recent higher education reforms in England and Sweden and important differences. Among the former are demands for increased effectiveness, imposition of systems for quality assurance and assessment and market orientation. The most conspicuous difference is the movement to devolve power to the higher education institutions in Sweden, while British universities have been subjected to more centralized control.

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Selection of a Milk Handler

AbstractA structural probit model is estimated to determine the change in the probability of selecting a milk handler. Cooperatives are thought to have lower prices and higher deductions than independent milk handlers and these factors reduce the probability that a farmer will select a cooperative by 0.39 and 0.32. Cooperatives are thought to have better services and an assured market and payment than independent milk handlers and these factors increase the probability that a farmer will select a cooperative by 0.20 and 0.26. This indicates that many cooperative members value monetary characteristics over non-monetary characteristics.

Large-scale data processing in the Prudential, 1850–1930

Industrial assurance, which dates from the 1850s, involved the frequent collection of small Premiums for policies to meet funeral costs. The need to minimize operational and administrative expenses created major business and competitive opportunities. This paper describes the organizational and data-processing innovations in the Prudential Assurance Company that enabled it to achieve and maintain its domination of the British industrial assurance market. Some more general conclusions are drawn on the impact and take-up of office mechanization.

The Canadian Life Assurance Market.

The authors have endeavoured to highlight those aspects which, because of the way they contrast with British practices, are likely to be of particular interest to actuaries in the U.K.Subjects reviewed include economic and demographic trends; a description of the life companies, both Canadian and foreign, operating in Canada; the regulatory environment including the recent legislative changes designed to bring financial statements closer to ‘GAAP’; the new actuarial valuation procedures and the wider responsibilities of the signing actuary; asset values and the new treatment of investment gains and losses; taxation; marketing systems; and the major types of policies and benefits sold, including the implications of guaranteed cash values.Also included is a review of the actuarial profession and the education of the actuary in Canada.

The South African Life Assurance Market.

Two previous papers have been presented on the South African life assurance market but they have both dealt with the Actuary in South Africa. The first one was presented in 1957 by Messrs. Smit, Sherman, Williams and Roger and the second in 1974 by Mr P. W. Barke.The historical and geographical information given in this paper expands on that given by Mr Barke but is reproduced here for completeness.

Recollections From an Earlier Period in American Aeronautics

The situation of American aeronautics in the year 1929 is examined. In that year manufacturers all over the U.S. were bringing out new aircraft models to capture an assured market. Earlier developments in aviation in the U.S. after World War I are also considered along with the conditions of American aeronautics in the 1930s. Attention is given to the introduction of the Barling NB-3 with its all-metal construction, efforts of NACA to collect and disseminate in a uniform notation aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils from laboratories around the world, and the invention of the variable-density wind tunnel.

The German Life Assurance Market

1. The paper sets out a brief description of the life assurance market in the Federal Republic of Germany (including West Berlin). The aim has been to highlight those aspects of the market, in particular the supervision system, which differ significantly from British practice. After a section giving some historical background, the main section outlines the present market and the paper concludes with a brief look at the future.2. The paper is based on the impressions which we obtained in establishing a new branch office of a British proprietary life assurance company in Germany. The views expressed are, however, entirely personal. Our thanks are due to J. A. Langley and R. J. McCurrach, who assembled the statistical material.

Concentration in the U.K. Ordinary Life Assurance Market

Studies of market concentration have been generally restricted to the manufacturing and distributive industries, with little attention paid to the markets in which financial companies operate,' but it is the purpose of this study to deal with one such market-the market for life assurance. With progressively closer regulation of insurance business has come an increasing wealth of published statistics relating to the whole industry, and, while it is not suggested that the extent or form of the published data is now wholly satisfactory, they do provide a useful source of basic industry-wide data for a study such as this. The scope of this study will be limited to the ordinary life assurance market,2 and it will be substantially based on the statistics published by the Department of Trade and Industry [6], which is the agency responsible for regulating the conduct of insurance business in the U.K. However, due to the long delays which have recently arisen in the publication of these statistics, an attempt will be made to present a more up-to-date picture by making use of slightly less comprehensive data for 1972. Section I will consider the need for study of concentration in life assurance, while section II will review the existing studies. Section III discusses various aspects of concentration in the life assurance market, and section IV presents the empirical results of this study. Section V contains the conclusions.

The Danish Life Assurance Market

1.1. Historically, as today, the Danish insurance community has been subjected to a far greater degree of official supervision than their U.K. colleagues are accustomed to. Insurance can only be written if the Forsikringsraad (Insurance Supervisory Board) recommends that the applicant office be granted a concession to do so. In particular, the Forsikringsraad will have to be satisfied that the office's premium rates are adequate. At a time when the U.K. is moving towards closer supervision, it is particularly interesting and instructive to examine a functioning supervisory system. (Section 6 of the present paper deals with this aspect of insurance in Denmark.)

The Dutch Life Assurance Market

1. This paper is based upon experience derived and impressions gained from working as a foreigner in the Dutch life assurance market. The views expressed are essentially personal2. In setting up a life assurance operation in a foreign country the factors to be considered are immensely complex and the decision to enter the market is merely the beginning of a long process of analysis and further decisions. In this paper I have made no attempt either to enumerate or to consider these factors. This is a descriptive paper and not an analytical one.3. After a short historical review the broad elements which comprise the present Dutch market are discussed and finally I mention briefly what I see as some of the important trends and future possibilities for this market.

The Changing Resources of Sedentary Communities in Air, Southern Sahara

ASTORAL nomadism in the Sahara appears in the long run to lack a future, since it is unable to produce commodities that can command an assured market, at rising or stable prices, to sustain an increase in living standards. The adoption of a sedentary way of life seems to be a precondition for development. In Air, a region in the northern part of the Republic of Niger, the settlement of nomads has been officially encouraged since 1922, but it is complicated by a long-standing duality between the nomadic, pure-bred Tuareg camel herders and the formerly servile sedentary cultivators of mixed descent. Sedentarization emphasizes the economic future of agriculture, which is severely limited by natural conditions. Furthermore, the French conquest, half a century of colonial rule, and the economic changes in the twentieth century have initiated a process of continuing geographical change. It is in the light of these changes that an evaluation of the resources of the sedentary communities of Air must be made, with particular reference to the ecology of agricultural land use.1

Efficiency and Welfare Considerations in Integrated Agriculture

VERTICAL integration, often suggesting a myriad of coordinating activities, will here imply control by complete or partial ownership, with capital flowing from the integrating to the integrated industry. The two types of integrated agriculture, then, would be ownership of farms by supply or processing firms and ownership of supply or processing firms by farmers. While the latter seems to be the more general pattern of integrated agriculture, the ownership or even contractual control of farms by supply or processing firms causes by far the most ruckus. Efficiency and welfare questions arise from both types of integration. The thrust and direction of such questions are quite different, however. Over the years, a case has been made for integration by farmers. Where farmers have successfully integrated supply or processing operations, it has been judged in the interest of both the farmer and society at large., Either efficiency is improved or an alternative to buying or selling is provided. Since farmers enter these arrangements of their own initiative and the institutions created must compete with conventional channels, it is hard to make a case against integration by farmers. The reasons why farmers buy supply or processing facilities are significant here. It is not to improve production efficiency. It is not to obtain better industry coordination.2 It is almost always to provide a 'less monopolistic market outlet or supply or to provide services not otherwise available. The farmer who joins his neighbor in buying a dairy plantthrough which he expects to sell his milk-does not integrate production and marketing functions in any significant way. He merely sends his milk to a different and competing processor, which he controls, in hopes of getting higher prices and/or an assured market. Integration of agricultural production by other industries seems to be significantly different in a few ways. A farmer may own a few revolving shares of a half dozen farmer-owned supply or processing outfits, but this ownership will affect his production operations very little. On the other

The Review Function in Water Resources Development

Water resources projects reviewed for the investment of public funds must pass tests against criteria that have been virtually unchanged since 1802. Selected projects show continuity of criteria, common features likely to produce controversy, and proved evaluation procedures. The Corps of Engineers projects reviewed by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors prior to authorization by the Congress serve as the basis for much of the paper. Attention is given to adequate presentation of all information needed for a reliable decision by a body concerned with professional integrity, the full significance of reasonable alternatives, and sound project formulation. The application of announced policy to specific projects frequently shows inadequacies or inconsistencies not recognized previously and best resolved with the aid of collective judgment by an experienced review organization. Projects must meet tests for feasibility, adequate value, and an assured market. They must show economic efficiency by comparing favorably with other alternatives. The review integrates political factors in the decision process at Secretary level or higher. Roles of the Federal Power Commission and the Bureau of the Budget receive special attention.

The Problems of a New Life Office

It might at first be thought that this paper is limited to the problems of those few who hope to establish a new office in a highly organized and competitive life assurance market. Yet all offices wishing to expand will be faced with problems of a similar nature. This is evident when contemplating a development overseas and was the subject of a paper to the Faculty in March 1960 by R. G. Mallett (T.F.A.26, 547).