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The paper sets out to use the loss ratio series of Switzerland, Germany, the USA and Japan, to test whether underwriting cycles still exist internationally and to identify possible structural changes.

Based on financial theory and insurance pricing theory, co‐integration analysis was performed to check possible causes of structural changes.

All four countries have breaks in different years. This result leads to the hypothesis that the factors affecting underwriting cycles are mainly country‐specific, such as economic environment and regulations, rather than global/international. Although the financial theory and the insurance pricing theory suggest that the loss ratio series should be co‐integrated with the interest rate series with co‐integrating coefficient −1, the empirical results do not support the theories.

More detailed analysis for the time series characteristics for countries other than the USA is presented to investigate the possible existence of underwriting cycles.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of coke oven gas (COG)-combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) system and to mainly focus on studying the influence of the environmental conditions, operating conditions and gas conditions on the performance of the system and on quantifying the distribution of useful energy loss and the saving potential of the integrated system changing with different parameters.

The working process of COG-CCHP was simulated through the establishment of system flow and thermal analysis mathematical model. Using exergy analysis method, the COG-CCHP system’s energy consumption status and the performance changing rules were analyzed.

The results showed that the combustion chamber has the largest exergy loss among the thermal equipments. Reducing the environmental temperature and pressure can improve the entire system’s reasonable degree of energy. Higher temperature and pressure improved the system’s perfection degree of energy use. Relatively high level of hydrogen and low content of water in COG and an optimal range of CH₄ volume fraction between 35 per cent and 46 per cent are required to ensure high exergy efficiency of this integration system.

This paper proposed a CCHP system with the utilization of coke oven gas (COG) and quantified the distribution of useful energy loss and the saving potential of the integrated system under different environmental, operating and gas conditions. The weak links of energy consumption within the system were analyzed, and the characteristics of COG in this way of using were illustrated. This study can provide certain guiding basis for further research and development of the CCHP system performance.

The recent trend of integrated risk management has resulted in corporations reassessing their risk management practices. Insurance derivatives and insurance‐linked securities are emerging as alternatives or complements to traditional resisurance capacity. Despite its theoretical benefits, the market for insurance‐linked transactions has not matured, due to problems of information asymmetry and lack of transparency. This article proposes a solution to resolve the conflicting interests preventing insurers/reinsurers and investors from more widely trading insurance risk.

Participatory contracts reflect the true spirit of Islamic finance. However, these contracts face several challenges during their implementation. This is reflected by the low volume of contracts processed by Islamic banks and the low number of Sukuk issued. This study aims to introduce a new parameter related to the valuation of Sukuk Musharakah when the underlying asset is a joint venture.

The author applies the Gordon & Shapiro model on the valuation of Sukuk Musharakah with a joint venture as underlying. A new pricing framework is introduced with several usual parameters such as the profit and loss sharing ratio, besides a new parameter, which is the dividend payout ratio. The framework shall contain price, duration and convexity computation. The new framework differs from the classic bond pricing methodology broadly used nowadays in determination of Sukuk prices.

The results indicate that negotiating only the profit and loss sharing ratio is not sufficient to have a fair price of Sukuk Musharakah when the underlying is a joint venture. It is due to the mismatch of interest between investors and issuers. Thus, another parameter should be negotiated which is the dividend payout ratio.

The research focuses exclusively on Sukuk Musharakah with joint venture as underlying. Also, the choice of Gordon & Shapiro formula, by definition of the model, restricts the calculation of the net asset value by using only the future expected dividends with constant growth. This choice is made primarily to explain the objective of this paper in a simple way.

For investors, a compatible pricing framework with the underlying flows and risks of an asset is essential to create a liquid market. This work would help investors to boost the Sukuk Musharakah market.

Several studies have analyzed the various challenges in Sukuk markets. Few of them dealt with specificities of Sukuk Musharakah by focusing on the underlying nature. So far, the profit and loss sharing ratio is the only parameter analyzed in these studies. Thus, the authors contribute to the literature by studying other parameters that can solve the various challenges of Sukuk Markets.

Mixed bivariate vectors occur when a sampling unit has two different types of response. This is a common occurrence in many manufacturing processes. The traditional optimization approach for such a problem is to analyse each response separately and to determine vital factors for that response, then choose optimal factor settings by making trade‐off adjustments among all factors. Develops a general mixed bivariate model that will consider the correlation between the two responses of general quality loss function. First, develops a general quality loss function to evaluate societal losses for a vector response and then develops signal‐to‐noise ratios as performance measures and for the three different mixed responses (smaller‐the‐better, larger‐the‐better), (smaller‐the‐better, nominal‐the‐best) and (larger‐the‐better, nominal‐the‐best). Introduces simulation to evaluate the efficiency of performance measures that are developed herein.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical information about the past loss experience in major US crop insurance programs, and documents the impacts of ratings changes through time on the premiums and exposure to participants. The losses are also examined within the structure of the current SRA to identify impacts on insurance companies and the government by fund designation.

- The study uses RMA Summary of Business data and methods consistent with the use of loss-cost ratemaking to analyze loss performance across years with different starting prices and volatilities. Additionally, the RMA premium quoting system was replicated across years with the ability to adjust only one feature at a time to isolate the impacts of changes in individual rating elements from changes in market conditions. Tabulations are provided in map and table form to present the loss ratios through time, in aggregate across time, and within each of the possible funds in which exposures are held. Additionally, the tools developed allow a direct tabulation of the farmer-level premium impacts of individual changes in the policy premium system, and of changing conditions over time.

Corn and soybeans represent dominant shares of aggregate policy premiums and liability, and also are the crops that underwent the greatest degree of revision in rates over the recent past both due to rate study implications, and to loss rate experience. Despite commonly made arguments that payments associated with the drought of 2012 “more than wiped out all historic gains,” it appears that insurance worked very much as intended and that the loss ratios through time are within reasonable ranges of targets. Fund designation, and the separation under the most recent SRA of Group 1 and Group 2 states substantially dampened the loss sharing and ability to capture gains by private companies, and leads to fairly low rates of return on a pure fund-loss sharing basis for insurance companies. Finally, despite the extreme losses of 2012, the aggregate performance of corn relative to the remainder of the program exhibits lower than average loss rates both in aggregate and on a scale-adjusted basis.

The study provides an important means to isolate and assess implications of rate changes, and to associate causes of losses with rate charges. Additionally, the structure of the SRA, and possible future versions of the SRA are informed by both the aggregate, and the normalized performance results provided. And, the relative performance of major row, crops even with recent extreme losses, appears appropriate or positive to insurance companies after considering the impacts of the SRA on company exposure. In total, the evidence points toward appropriate movement toward target overall loss ratios in the US crop insurance program.

This paper provides an extensive empirical evaluation of ratings for major crop insurance policies and provides a unique means to decompose sources of changes in premiums and rates across locations and through time. It also provides an evaluation of the performance of crop insurance post-SRA in a manner that allows both totals and scale-adjusted performance to be assessed.

The purpose of this article is to examine the existence of underwriting cycles in property‐liability insurance for Switzerland, the USA, Japan, and West Germany over a period of 40 years (1957‐1997), i.e. it looks at the question of whether the unit price of insurance coverage (given by the inverse of the loss ratio) fluctuates cyclically over time. The article serves as basis and starting point for Part II, where some of the limitations of the model presented here are dealt with.

Loss ratio data for the four countries are used for the recent period 1957‐1997. To test for the existence of cycles and calculate their length, the article applies autoregressive processes of second order, which were brought to a broader audience by a paper by Cummins and Outreville in 1987. The article also conducts a spectral analysis of the series.

For West Germany, much longer cycles than in earlier studies were found for the basic model. In general, the cycles get longer for the longer period, 1957‐1997. The article concludes that the hypothesis of cycles of six years in length no longer holds globally. It also finds cross‐country differences for the primary markets of the four countries.

Most empirical work on underwriting cycles has so far been carried out on US data. This study replicates a previous study for four countries on three continents and discusses the results and some limitations. It serves as the basis for Part II of this work.

The purpose of this research study is to determine whether flood-damaged residences located in the USA are remaining unrepaired because of the lack of flood insurance coverage. Unrepaired flooded dwellings are subsequently being foreclosed with mortgage-insurance claims being paid to lenders. This paper aims to examine if weather events that cause flooding impact the losses suffered by mortgage insurers and homeowners.

Two fully modified least squares regression models are done using losses experienced by two mortgage insurance companies. The AM Best insurance rating information for a 16-year period or years 2002–2017 is used to study whether the loss ratios experienced by two companies underwriting private mortgage insurance (PMI) are statistically correlated to National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claim levels. The assumption is that higher flood insurance claims are a proxy for more severe weather events during a particular year which results in flooding that damage residences.

The NFIP claims coefficient is positive and significant for both companies being examined. This indicates that the more serious the flooding event during a specific year, the higher the losses experienced by the private mortgage insurer. The R² results for the regression models were 0.673–0.695. The income variable has a negative coefficient which was significant. It indicates that falling income lead to rising mortgage insurer losses. The NFIP variable was significant with a positive coefficient.

The mortgage insurance industry is dominated by several companies at any point in time. During the 16-year study period, some companies have become insolvent, merged with other companies or recently started underwriting mortgage insurance. One company was diversified writing multiple lines of property insurance. There were only two insurers with complete financial information for the specified study period.

There are currently five mortgage insurers operating in the USA. A serious flood event could cause the insolvency of some of these companies. This would reduce the competition existing in the default insurance market. The financial markets for real estate loans price mortgages based on the availability and the ability to secure mortgage insurance for high loan-to-value properties. There is federal mortgage insurance available for certain types of residential loans.

There are a limited number of insurers writing flood insurance. These companies can pick or reject dwellings and/or commercial properties to underwrite for insurance. The goal of phasing out insurance through the NFIP may prove impossible to achieve. A flood event without insurance would cause serious financial consequences to property owners, loan delinquencies and could depress the local economy for years. Competition from private mortgage insurers may intensify the adverse selection already being experienced by the NFIP. Private insurers would select the lower risk flood applications leaving the more risky insurance to be covered by the NFIP.

Prior research focused on financial variables impacting PMI and weather factors affecting flood insurance claims. Financial ratios published in the AM Best rating guide for the USA and Canada were used to examine whether or not PMI losses are indirectly affected by flooding events as measured by NFIP variable. Comparing two separate lines of insurance and their impact on each other has not been studied by prior researchers.

In the USA, private insurance companies serve as an integral part of the delivery and risk sharing of the federal crop insurance program. Governed by the Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA), private crop insurance companies must designate an eligible crop insurance contract to the assigned risk, developmental, or commercial funds. While the SRA restricts the private sector delivery system in a number of ways, the assignment of contracts to crop insurance funds, however, is left solely to the discretion of individual crop insurance companies. Thus, as to the companies' profitability viewpoint, the optimal selection of the crop insurance funds is the most important task. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a decision framework for crop insurance companies to make optimal decisions regarding the purchases of crop reinsurance. This information and framework may also be useful for crop insurance firms in China when considering crop reinsurance decisions.

The paper studied three commonly used parametric loss distributions and presented a general guideline to choose the most profitable fund within the company's risk bearing level.

The paper finds many important features in the commonly used loss distributions, which are useful to maximize the company's underwriting returns.

The paper provides a general decision framework for optimally ceding risks to reinsurance. While this paper focused on agricultural insurance decisions by firms, the concept could be applied to general reinsurance decisions.

The USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) made several changes to the crop insurance products available to organic growers for the 2014 crop year. Most notably, a 5 percent premium surcharge was removed and organic-specific transitional yields (t-yields) were issued for the first time. The purpose of this paper is to use farm-level organic crop yield data to analyze the impact of these reforms on producer insurance outcomes and compare the insurance options for new organic growers.

This study uses a unique panel data set of organic corn and soybean yields to analyze the impact of organic crop insurance reforms. Actual Production History values and premium rates are calculated for each farm and crop yield sequence. Producer loss ratios and subsidized premium wedges are compared for yield, revenue and area-risk products before and after the instituted reforms.

Results indicate that RMA succeeded in improving the actuarial soundness of the organic insurance program, though further refinement of organic t-yields may be necessary to accurately reflect the yield potential of organic producers and avoid reductions in program participation.

This paper provides insight into the effectiveness of reforms intended to improve the actuarial soundness of organic crop insurance and demonstrates the effect that the reforms are likely to have on new and existing organic farms. Because this analysis uses data collected independently of RMA and includes farms that may or may not have purchased crop insurance, it avoids the self-selection problems that might affect analyses using crop insurance program data.