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Article
Publication date: 9 August 2013

Martin Eling and Michael Kochanski

The purpose of this paper is to review research on lapse in life insurance and to outline potential new areas of research in this field.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review research on lapse in life insurance and to outline potential new areas of research in this field.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors consider theoretical lapse rate models as well as empirical research on life insurance lapse and provide a classification of these two streams of research. More than 50 theoretical and empirical papers from this important field of research are reviewed. Challenges for lapse rate modeling, lapse risk mitigation techniques, and possible trends in future lapse behavior are discussed.

Findings

Lapse rate modeling has been a very active field of research in the last years, as evidenced by the 44 papers on lapse modeling considered in this review. Moreover, a fair amount of empirical work (another 12 papers) has been done, especially on the issue of how environmental variables affect lapse. Research on individual policyholder and contract information is more scarce, since such information is typically treated as confidential.

Practical implications

The risks arising from lapse are of high economic importance. Lapsation is thus of interest not only to academics, but is highly relevant for the industry, regulators, and policymakers, especially in regard to designing an appropriate regulatory environment. Lapsation also impacts many actuarial tasks, such as product design, pricing, hedging, and risk management. A review of the recent literature might be helpful for these tasks.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first structured review of the increasingly important literature on life insurance lapsation. Next to the structured review of the existing models and the empirical evidence, the paper also contributes to the literature by discussing challenges for lapse rate modeling and possible trends.

Details

The Journal of Risk Finance, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1526-5943

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2017

Biju Mathew and Sunitha Sivaraman

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the macroeconomic determinants of life insurance demand in India. The recent decline in life insurance activity calls for a study on the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the macroeconomic determinants of life insurance demand in India. The recent decline in life insurance activity calls for a study on the factors influencing life insurance demand in India.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs econometric techniques like augmented Dickey-Fuller test, Johansen cointegration test, vector error correction models and the Granger causality test to estimate the macroeconomic predictors of life insurance demand in India, during the period 1980-1981 to 2013-2014.

Findings

Financial sector development and inflation positively influence life insurance demand in India. The real rate of interest and income are negatively related to life insurance consumption. The study finds an insignificant relation between the level of social security expenditure and life insurance buying. Financial sector development is found to Granger-cause life insurance demand.

Research limitations/implications

Product-wise analysis of life insurance demand is not attempted due to lack of unit-level data. The impact of regulatory changes on life insurance demand in India is not attempted.

Practical implications

Intervention by the policy makers is required to arrest the decline of life insurance activity in India. Efforts are required to widen the financial sector of the Indian economy to accelerate the growth of life insurance activity.

Originality/value

The paper introduces a new measure of life insurance demand, the total regular new business premium, in the estimation of life insurance demand determination.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2021

Manuel Leiria, Efigénio Rebelo and Nelson deMatos

The insurance industry has not been able to effectively retain its customers and struggles to establish and maintain long-lasting relationships with them. The purpose of this…

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Abstract

Purpose

The insurance industry has not been able to effectively retain its customers and struggles to establish and maintain long-lasting relationships with them. The purpose of this paper is thus to identify the main factors that explain the cancellation of motor insurance policies by individual customers, considering the influence of intermediaries on their decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The data used in this research is based on a sample of 3,500 insurance policies that lapsed during the period of analysis between January and July 2017, against another sample of 3,500 policies that did not lapse, from a major insurance company in Portugal. Binary logistic regression was used for data analysis, using IBM SPSS software.

Findings

Aggressive tactics by insurance companies for customer acquisition may induce the cancellation of insurance policies. More valuable customers, the policies with higher premiums and recent claims, as well as the ancillary intermediaries and agents, are determinants of insurance cancellation. Conversely, the payment of policies by direct debit and without instalments reduces the probability of cancellations.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this study is the restriction on data access. Insurance companies are significantly resistant to sharing their customer data – including with academic researchers – even in an anonymised form.

Practical implications

The paper highlights internal and external practices of insurance companies that should be reformulated to significantly improve their performance regarding product cancellation, related to customer information management, mistrust behaviours related to stakeholders and new value propositions that deepen the relationships with intermediaries.

Originality/value

This research developed a framework with which to identify the factors that are mainly associated with motor insurance cancellation and to predict its likelihood.

研究目的

保險業一向未能有效地留住客戶,故業內不斷努力建立並維繫與客戶長久的關係。因此、本文擬確定個人客戶終止其汽車保單的因素;研究過程中、會考慮中介人對客戶作有關決定的影響 。

研究的設計/方法/理念

本研究所使用的數據、為基於一個涵蓋3500份期滿終止保單的樣本、並以之與另一涵蓋3500份沒有終止保單的樣本相比,樣本均來自葡萄牙一家大型保險公司。期滿終止保單之樣本、乃於2017年1月至同年7月這個研究進行期間内期滿終止的。研究使用了二元羅吉斯迴歸來分析數據,並應用了IBM SPSS 數據分析軟件。

研究結果

保險公司為贏得客戶所採用的積極進取策略可能導致客戶終止其保單。保單終止的決定因素包括更多有價值的客戶、保險費較高的保單、最近的索賠和輔助的中介及代理。反之,以自動扣帳方式及以非分期付款形式繳付保單則會減低終止保單的機會。

研究的原創性/價值

本研究發展了一個框架、以確定與客戶終止其保單有關聯的主要因素,並預計客戶終止保單的可能性。本文亦強調了保險公司須重新制定其內部與外部的做法,以能大幅改善其與產品取消有關的績效,而這些產品取消涉及客戶信息管理、與持份者有關的不信任行為、以及能深化與中介人之關係的新價值主張。

Details

European Journal of Management and Business Economics, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2444-8451

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 August 2008

René Doff

The objectives of this paper are to: define business risk; identify whether economic capital could be used to mitigate this risk; and investigate business‐risk measurement…

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Abstract

Purpose

The objectives of this paper are to: define business risk; identify whether economic capital could be used to mitigate this risk; and investigate business‐risk measurement methodologies.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes definitions used in theory and practice and derived a definition. It analyzes three measurement methodologies: analogue companies/peer group analysis, statistical methods, and scenario analysis. These methodologies are tested against the criteria of effective management control, because economic capital is increasingly used as a management control instrument.

Findings

Economic capital can be used as business‐risk mitigant albeit not the only one. The measurement methodology of scenario analysis satisfies most of the criteria for effective control.

Practical implications

This paper opens a discussion to further develop the scenario approach in theory and practice.

Originality/value

Despite the amount of economic capital that financial institutions hold to cover business risk, it has received little attention in literature. This paper opens a discussion on a relatively new field of research.

Details

The Journal of Risk Finance, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1526-5943

Keywords

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