Insurance Value Research Articles

Optimal Annuity Purchases for Australian Retirees

We develop and simulate a stochastic lifecycle model to investigate optimal annuity purchases at retirement. Retirees can invest in risky assets, purchase fairly priced immediate or deferred lifetime annuities, and are eligible for a targeted safety net pension. We match baseline parameters to current Australian settings and conduct scenario analyses over a wide range of individual preferences and financial market outcomes. Except where individuals need to insure a consumption floor, both immediate and deferred annuity purchases are largely crowded out by the means‐tested public pension. Welfare losses caused by zero annuitisation are small compared with the losses caused by completely annuitising all savings, particularly if wealth at retirement is low. Decumulation policy should ensure individuals are well informed of the insurance value of annuities and accommodate diverse choices.

Strategy decision of business interruption insurance and emergency supply strategy based on supply disruptions

Purpose: Recent years have witness the pervasive supply disruptions and their impacts on supply chain performance. It is significant for enterprises to adopt comprehensive measures to cope with supply disruptions. The purpose of this study is to investigate how BI insurance make up the shortage of emergency supply and affect the expected profit of enterprises. Design/methodology: This study develops the penalty cost function on the basic of the financial costs caused by the interruption losses, introduces variables of BI insurance and operational measures, establishes the profit model with BI insurance or not. Findings: Through the proof and analysis, it is demonstrated that BI insurance can mitigate the adverse effect of the increasing cost for expected profit. And this study finds that the value of BI insurance is higher when interruption probability is lower and penalty coefficient is higher. Originality/value: In this study, it is investigated that the impact of business interruption (BI) insurance on supply disruptions and its complementary value against the higher purchase cost of emergency sourcing strategy. BI insurance is an efficient measure for supply interruption and should be adopted correctly to play a role in managing supply disruption risk.

What Do Longitudinal Data on Millions of Hospital Visits Tell Us About the Value of Public Health Insurance as a Safety Net for the Young and Privately Insured?

Young people with private health insurance sometimes transition to the public health insurance safety net after they get sick, but popular sources of cross-sectional data obscure how frequently these transitions occur. We use longitudinal data on almost all hospital visits in New York from 1995 to 2011. We show that young privately insured individuals with diagnoses that require more hospital visits in subsequent years are more likely to transition to public insurance. If we ignore the longitudinal transitions in our data, we obscure over 80% of the value of public health insurance to the young and privately insured.Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

Client Perceptions of the Value of Microinsurance: Evidence from Southern Ghana

The uptake of microinsurance in developing countries falls short of projections, which has recently made stakeholders focus on client value. However, empirical research on what constitutes client value in microinsurance has been limited. As a starting point for further investigations, we draw a first conceptual sketch of the dimensions of client value. Our analysis is based on qualitative data from focus group discussions among both existing and potential clients of a micro life insurance in southern Ghana. Using a multidimensional approach, we show that client value is based on the perceived quality, costs and consumption outcome, as well as the emotional and social value of micro life insurance. In their value judgments, focus group participants particularly emphasize the quality of customer service provision, the (expected) insurance benefits, and positive emotions associated with insurance coverage. The evaluation of the value of the microinsurance under study is mixed. We therefore also investigate why clients form the value perceptions they do. This investigation finds that large discrepancies between people’s expectations and experiences reduce the perceived value of the insurance product. It shows that contextual factors, such as clients’ knowledge about insurance, their interaction with peers, and the availability and effectiveness of alternative risk management options, largely shape whether they perceive high or low value in micro life insurance.

An ecological economic assessment of risk-reducing effects of species diversity in managed grasslands

Over the last decade, it has been shown in the ecology literature that species diversity increases yield stability in managed grasslands. Here, we develop and apply ecological economic and econometric frameworks to evaluate these potential risk-reducing effects of species diversity in terms of yields and their temporal stability from a farmer's perspective. Our empirical analysis is based on a rich panel dataset obtained from a diversity experiment covering in total 60 species and a period of 6years. We find empirical evidence for the risk-reducing effect of species diversity and the economic assessment reveals significant insurance values associated with diversity for a risk-averse decision maker. Thus, the economic value of diversity would be underestimated if not accounting for this property, and species diversity may serve as valuable ex-ante risk management strategy.

The economic value of forests in supplying local climate regulation

Several authors have argued that forest ecosystems serve as a hedge against extreme climatic events at a local scale. Consequently, the local climate regulation ecosystem services provided by forests can be economically valued by evaluating the reduction (increase) in the insurance premium that risk-averse individuals are willing to pay when forest cover is marginally increased (reduced). This type of insurance value associated to forest ecosystems services is estimated to be USD 0.0733 per hectare of forest for Chilean farmers. The empirical framework proposed in this paper is useful and relevant for the cost-benefit analysis of natural resource conservation investments.

The Optimal Timing of Unemployment Benefits: Theory and Evidence from Sweden

This paper provides a simple, yet general framework to analyze the optimal time profile of benefits during the unemployment spell. We derive simple sufficient-statistics formulae capturing the insurance value and incentive costs of unemployment benefits paid at different times during the unemployment spell. Our general approach allows to revisit and evaluate in a transparent way the separate arguments for inclining or declining profiles put forward in the theoretical literature. We then estimate our sufficient statistics using administrative data on unemployment, income and wealth in Sweden. First, we exploit duration dependent kinks in the replacement rate and find that the moral hazard cost of benefits is larger when paid earlier in the spell. Second, we find that the drop in consumption determining the insurance value of benefits is large from the start of the spell, but further increases throughout the spell. On average, savings and credit play a limited role in smoothing consumption. Our evidence therefore indicates that the recent change from a flat to a declining benefit profile in Sweden has decreased welfare. In fact, the local welfare gains push towards an increasing rather than decreasing benefit profile over the spell.

Cash-on-Hand in Developing Countries and the Value of Social Insurance: Evidence from Brazil

Cash-on-Hand in Developing Countries and the Value of Social Insurance: Evidence from Brazil

Do Credit-Based Insurance Scores Proxy for Income in Predicting Auto Claim Risk?

Auto insurers often use credit-based insurance scores in their underwriting and rating processes. The practice is controversial — many consumer groups oppose it, and most states regulate it, in part out of concern that insurance scores proxy for policyholder income in predicting claim risk. We offer new evidence on this issue in the context of auto insurance. Prior studies on the subject suffer from the limitation that they rely solely on aggregate measures of income, such as the median income in a policyholder's census tract or zip code. We analyze a panel of households that purchased auto and home policies from a U.S. insurance company. Because we observe the households' home policies as well as their auto policies, we are able to employ two measures of income: the median income in a household's census tract, an aggregate measure, and the insured value of the household's dwelling, a policyholder-level measure. Using these measures, we find that insurance score does not act as proxy for income in a standard actuarial model of auto claim risk.

Women's emancipation through education: A macroeconomic analysis

We study the role of education as insurance against a bad marriage in light of changing divorce laws during the 1970s. We build and estimate an equilibrium search model with education, marriage/divorce/remarriage, and household labor supply decisions. A key feature of the model is that women bear a larger share of the divorce burden, mainly because they are more closely tied to their children relative to men. Our focus on education is motivated by the fact that divorce laws typically allow spouses to keep the future returns from their human capital upon divorce (unlike their physical assets), making education a good insurance in divorce. In the model, women overtake men in college attainment during the 1990s, a feature of the data that has proved challenging to explain. Our counterfactual experiments indicate that the divorce law reform of the 1970s played an important role in these trends, explaining more than one-quarter of college attainment rate of women post-1970s and one-half of the rise in labor supply for married women. Further, results suggest a higher insurance value of education in divorce than marriage market signaling benefits of education especially for women post divorce reform.

Incidental Bequests and the Choice to Self-Insure Late-Life Risks

Despite facing significant uncertainty about their lifespans and health care costs, most retirees do not buy annuities or long-term care insurance. In this paper, I find that retirees’ saving and insurance choices are highly inconsistent with standard life-cycle models in which people care only about their own consumption but match well models in which bequests are luxury goods. Bequest motives tend to reduce the value of insurance by reducing the opportunity cost of precautionary saving. The results suggest that bequest motives significantly increase saving and significantly decrease purchases of long-term care insurance and annuities.

Insurance experience as a category of labor law and social security law

The article investigates insurance experience as a category of labor law and social security law. Defined as the period specified concept, process, legal fact and inter-Law Institute, and the main features of insurance, the insurance value is set and seniority.

The Social and Economic Value of Insurance

The Social and Economic Value of Insurance

Optimal Annuity Purchases for Australian Retirees

We develop and simulate a stochastic lifecycle model to investigate optimal annuity purchases at retirement. Retirees can invest in risky assets, purchase fairly priced immediate or deferred lifetime annuities, and are eligible for a targeted safety net pension. We match baseline parameters to current Australian settings and conduct scenario analyses over a wide range of individual preferences and financial market outcomes. Except where individuals need to insure a consumption floor, both immediate and deferred annuity purchases are largely crowded out by the means‐tested public pension. Welfare losses caused by zero annuitisation are small compared with the losses caused by completely annuitising all savings, particularly if wealth at retirement is low. Decumulation policy should ensure individuals are well informed of the insurance value of annuities and accommodate diverse choices.

Crop yield distributions: fit, efficiency, and performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the empirical evidence about crop yield distributions that are often used in practical models evaluating crop yield risk and insurance. Additionally, a simulation approach is used to compare the performance of alternative specifications when the underlying form is not known, to identify implications for the choice of parameterization of yield distributions in modeling contexts. Design/methodology/approach – Using a unique high-quality farm-level corn yield data set, commonly used parametric, semi-parametric, and non-parametric distributions are examined against widely used in-sample goodness-of-fit (GOF) measures. Then, a simulation framework is used to assess the out-of-sample characteristics by using known distributions to generate samples that are assessed in an insurance valuation context under alternative specifications of the yield distribution. Findings – Bias and efficiency trade-offs are identified for both in- and out-of-sample contexts, including a simple insurance rating application. Use of GOF measures in small samples can lead to inappropriate selection of candidate distributions that perform poorly in straightforward economic applications. The β distribution consistently overstates rates even when fitted to data generated from a β distribution, while the Weibull consistently understates rates; though small sample features slightly favor Weibull. The TCMN and kernel density estimators are least biased in-sample, but can perform very badly out-of-sample due to overfitting issues. The TCMN performs reasonably well across sample sizes and initial conditions. Practical implications – Economic applications should consider the consequence of bias vs efficiency in the selection of characterizations of yield risk. Parsimonious specifications often outperform more complex characterizations of yield distributions in small sample settings, and in cases where more demanding uses of extreme-event probabilities are required. Originality/value – The study helps provide guidance on the selection of distributions used to characterize yield risk and provides an extensive empirical demonstration of yield risk measures across a high-quality set of actual farm experiences. The out-of-sample examination provides evidence of the impact of sample size, underlying variability, and region of the probability measure used on the performance of candidate distributions.

Patient perceptions of asthma-related financial burden: public vs private health insurance in the United States

BackgroundGiven the complexity of the health insurance market in the United States and the confusion that often stems from these complexities, patient perception about the value of health insurance in managing chronic disease is important to understand. ObjectiveTo examine differences between public and private health insurance in perceptions of financial burden with managing asthma, outcomes, and factors that explain these perceptions. MethodsSecondary analysis was performed using baseline data from a randomized clinical trial that were collected through telephone interviews with 219 African American women seeking services for asthma and reporting perceptions of financial burden with asthma management. Path analysis with multigroup models and multiple variable regression analyses were used to examine associations. ResultsFor public (P < .001) and private (P < .01) coverage, being married and more educated were indirectly associated with greater perceptions of financial burden through different explanatory pathways. When adjusted for multiple morbidities, asthma control, income, and out-of-pocket expenses, those with private insurance used fewer inpatient (P < .05) and emergency department (P < .001) services compared with those with public insurance. When also adjusted for health insurance, greater financial burden was associated with more urgent office visits (P < .001) and lower quality of life (P < .001). ConclusionAfrican American women who perceive asthma as a financial burden regardless of health insurance report more urgent health care visits and lower quality of life. Burden may be present despite having and being able to generate economic resources and health insurance. Further policy efforts are indicated and special attention should focus on type of coverage.

ANALISIS MANAJEMEN RISIKO PRODUK KAFALAH (STUDI PADA BANK MUAMALAT INDONESIA BANDA ACEH)

Kafalah is a guarantee of a guarantor, either in the form of self assurance and treasure to the second party in relation to the rights and obligations of both parties that the other party. In banking sector, implementation of the concept is well known as a bank guarantee, which is a guarantee in the form of paper issued by the bank which resulted in the obligation to pay to the party receiving the collateral if the guaranteed party breach the contract. This article aims to study the implementaion of kafalah product at BMI Banda Aceh including strategies in preventing risks related the products. It also examines the implementation of kafalah from an Islamic perspective. In finding the answer, this article employes qualitative approach. Data was collected through field research and library research which was then analized using descriptive analysis method. The results show that the product kafalah undertaken by BMI Branch of Banda Aceh is a form of insurance that includes guaranteed tender, performance bonds, warranties advance, and guarantee maintenance with a deposit of 100% cash collateral to the insurance value is small and a deposit of 60% of fixed asset plus 40% cash collateral for eprtanggungan whose value is greater than the value of the desired assurance customers. Moreover, the client or the insured must enter into cooperation agreements with project leaders to work on a particular project. Tips management undertaken by BMI Branch Banda is analyzing the customer or contractor using character analysis and collateral is more dominant than the overall analysis of 5C, because the BMI-related risks faced by the provision of guarantees / kafalah is credit risk and reputation risk. From the Islamic perspective, the implementation of kafalah has complied with Islamic jurisprudence.&#x0D; &#x0D; Keywords: Analysis, Risk Management, Kafalah, Bank Muamalat Indonesia

The economic insurance value of ecosystem resilience

Ecosystem resilience, i.e. an ecosystem's ability to maintain its basic functions and controls under disturbances, is often interpreted as insurance: by decreasing the probability of future drops in the provision of ecosystem services, resilience insures risk-averse ecosystem users against potential welfare losses. Using a general and stringent definition of “insurance” and a simple ecological–economic model, we derive the (marginal) economic insurance value of ecosystem resilience and study how it depends on ecosystem properties, economic context, and the ecosystem user's risk preferences. We show that (i) the insurance value of resilience is negative (positive) for low (high) levels of resilience, (ii) it increases with the level of resilience, and (iii) it is one additive component of the (overall always positive) economic value of resilience.

Úroveň informovanosti pojistitelů o pojistné hodnotě v rámci živelního pojištění majetku podniku v České republice

Článek je zaměřen na úroveň poskytovaných informací v pojistných podmínkách pojistitelů a souvisí s jedním z možných projevů asymetrie informací. Cílem článku je posouzení úrovně informovanosti v pojistných podmínkách pojistitelů v charakteristice pojistná hodnota v oblasti pojištěného majetku. Výzkum je proveden k datu 1. 10. 2013. Článek je zaměřen na nabídkovou stranu pojistného trhu, tj. na pojistitele. Je analyzováno a hodnoceno, jak pojistitele informují podnik ve zvolené charakteristice pojistná hodnota. Hodnocení míry informovanosti je provedeno metodou porovnání standardu informací a skutečných informací dle pojistných podmínek. Je proveden výpočet míry informovanosti. Standard informací je vytvořen na základě analýzy a syntézy znalostí z pojistné teorie, pojistné praxe a legislativy platné v České republice. K tomu je také použita metoda třídění. Výsledkem práce je zpracování modelu standardu pojistných podmínek v charakteristice pojistná hodnota, posouzení informovanosti pojistitelů na českém pojistném trhu a zpracování konkrétních doporučení pro pojistný trh ke zvýšení míry informovanosti.

Universal Public Finance of Tuberculosis Treatment in India: An Extended Cost‐Effectiveness Analysis

Universal public finance (UPF)-government financing of an intervention irrespective of who is receiving it-for a health intervention entails consequences in multiple domains. First, UPF increases intervention uptake and hence the extent of consequent health gains. Second, UPF generates financial consequences including the crowding out of private expenditures. Finally, UPF provides insurance either by covering catastrophic expenditures, which would otherwise throw households into poverty or by preventing diseases that cause them. This paper develops a method-extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA)-for evaluating the consequences of UPF in each of these domains. It then illustrates ECEA with an evaluation of UPF for tuberculosis treatment in India. Using plausible values for key parameters, our base case ECEA concludes that the health gains and insurance value of UPF would accrue primarily to the poor. Reductions in out-of-pocket expenditures are more uniformly distributed across income quintiles. A variant on our base case suggests that lowering costs of borrowing for the poor could potentially achieve some of the health gains of UPF, but at the cost of leaving the poor more deeply in debt.