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Abstract

Details

Philosophy, Politics, and Austrian Economics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-405-2

Abstract

Details

The Evolution of the British Funeral Industry in the 20th Century: From Undertaker to Funeral Director
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-630-5

Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2007

Joseph Heath

Few issues in business ethics are as polarizing as the practice of risk classification and underwriting in the insurance industry. Theorists who approach the issue from a…

Abstract

Few issues in business ethics are as polarizing as the practice of risk classification and underwriting in the insurance industry. Theorists who approach the issue from a background in economics often start from the assumption that policy-holders should be charged a rate that reflects the expected loss that they bring to the insurance scheme. Yet theorists who approach the question from a background in philosophy or civil rights law often begin with a presumption against so-called “actuarially fair” premiums and in favor of “community rating,” in which everyone is charged the same price. This paper begins by examining and rejecting the three primary arguments that have been given to show that actuarially fair premiums are unjust. It then considers the two primary arguments that have been offered by those who wish to defend the practice of risk classification. These arguments overshoot their target, by requiring a “freedom to underwrite” that is much greater than the level of freedom enjoyed in most other commercial transactions. The paper concludes by presenting a defense of a more limited right to underwrite, one that grants the legitimacy of the central principle of risk classification, but permits specific deviations from that ideal when other important social goods are at stake.

Details

Insurance Ethics for a More Ethical World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-431-7

Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2007

Patrick Flanagan, Patrick D. Primeaux and William L. Ferguson

The insurance industry has been marked by exponential growth over the recent decade with more and more individuals and corporations appealing to the long-term security, which this…

Abstract

The insurance industry has been marked by exponential growth over the recent decade with more and more individuals and corporations appealing to the long-term security, which this service sector provides. As facts about ethical lapses and outright fraud emerge; however, the refuge that insurance companies were entrusted to provide may not be as embracing as first appears. As insurance CEOs and management teams are paraded before cameras into courtrooms, details about payoffs and kickbacks are disseminated, and financial reporting practices are scrutinized by authorities, public trust in this industry wanes. At best, public perception is tentative in light of recent scandals.

Details

Insurance Ethics for a More Ethical World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-431-7

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 29 October 2020

Abstract

Details

Philosophy, Politics, and Austrian Economics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-405-2

Abstract

Details

Philosophy, Politics, and Austrian Economics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-405-2

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2007

Abstract

Details

Insurance Ethics for a More Ethical World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-431-7

Abstract

Details

The Evolution of the British Funeral Industry in the 20th Century: From Undertaker to Funeral Director
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-630-5

Book part
Publication date: 16 July 2015

Callie H. Burt

Heritability studies attempt to estimate the contribution of genes (vs. environments) to variation in phenotypes (or outcomes of interest) in a given population at a given time…

Abstract

Purpose

Heritability studies attempt to estimate the contribution of genes (vs. environments) to variation in phenotypes (or outcomes of interest) in a given population at a given time. This chapter scrutinizes heritability studies of adverse health phenotypes, emphasizing flaws that have become more glaring in light of recent advances in the life sciences and manifest most visibly in epigenetics.

Methodology/approach

Drawing on a diverse body of research and critical scholarship, this chapter examines the veracity of methodological and conceptual assumptions of heritability studies.

Findings

The chapter argues that heritability studies are futile for two reasons: (1) heritability studies suffer from serious methodological flaws with the overall effect of making estimates inaccurate and likely biased toward inflated heritability, and, more importantly (2) the conceptual (biological) model on which heritability studies depend – that of identifiably separate effects of genes versus the environment on phenotype variance – is unsound. As discussed, contemporary bioscientific work indicates that genes and environments are enmeshed in a complex (bidirectional, interactional), dynamic relationship that defies any attempt to demarcate separate contributions to phenotype variance. Thus, heritability studies attempt the biologically impossible. The emerging research on the importance of microbiota is also discussed, including how the commensal relationship between microbial and human cells further stymies heritability studies.

Originality/value

Understandably, few sociologists have the time or interest to be informed about the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of heritability studies or to keep pace with the incredible advances in genetics and epigenetics over the last several years. The present chapter aims to provide interested scholars with information about heritability and heritability estimates of adverse health outcomes in light of recent advances in the biosciences.

Details

Genetics, Health and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-581-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2018

Thomas Keil, Pasi Kuusela and Nils Stieglitz

How do organizations respond to negative feedback regarding their innovation activities? In this chapter, the authors reconcile contradictory predictions stemming from behavioral…

Abstract

How do organizations respond to negative feedback regarding their innovation activities? In this chapter, the authors reconcile contradictory predictions stemming from behavioral learning and from the escalation of commitment (EoC) perspectives regarding persistence under negative performance feedback. The authors core argument suggests that the seemingly contradictory psychological processes indicated by these two perspectives occur simultaneously in decision makers but that the design of organizational roles and reward systems affects their prevalence in decision-making tasks. Specifically, the authors argue that for decision makers responsible for an individual project, responses given to negative performance feedback regarding a project are dominated by self-justification and loss-avoidance mechanisms predicted by the EoC literature, while for decision makers responsible for a portfolio of projects, responses to negative performance regarding a project are dominated by an under-sampling of poorly performing alternatives that behavioral learning theory predicts. In addition to assigning decision-making authority to different organizational roles, organizational designers shape the strength of these mechanisms through the design of reward systems and specifically by setting more or less ambiguous goals, aspiration levels, time horizons of incentives provided, and levels of failure tolerance.

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