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Competition in markets for life insurance

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Author Info
Marc Pomp
M. Bijlsma
Machiel van Dijk
Michiel van Leuvensteijn ()
C. Zonderland

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This report presents an empirical analysis of competition in the market for life insurance. In this market, financial advisors play a large role. Therefore, the report devotes considerable attention to the functioning of the market for financial advice. The main findings are as follows. Empirical indicators of competition find only weak competition in the market for life insurance. There are substantial economies of scale, large X-inefficiencies, and limited competition as measured by the Boone-indicator compared to other services sectors. Also, the higher profitability of Dutch life insurers compared to their foreign peers suggests weak competition, although it should be pointed out that this indicator mainly reflects the situation in the past. Better functioning of financial advisors offers a key towards improving competition. Consumers who purchased annuities through advisors are found to achieve lower pay-outs than consumers who purchased directly from life insurers. This finding underlines the importance of more transparency of life insurance products and of independent advice.

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File URL: http://www.cpb.nl/eng/pub/cpbreeksen/document/96/doc96.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis in its series CPB Documents with number 96.

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Date of creation: Sep 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cpb:docmnt:96

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Related research
Keywords: competition; life insurance; financial advice;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Personal Finance

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Boone, J., 2004. "A new way to measure competition," Discussion Paper 31, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Allen N. Berger & Loretta J. Mester, 1997. "Inside the Black Box: What Explains Differences in the Efficiencies of Financial Institutions?," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 97-04, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Olivia S. Mitchell et al., 1999. "New Evidence on the Money's Worth of Individual Annuities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1299-1318, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Claessens, Stijn & Laeven, Luc, 2004. "What Drives Bank Competition? Some International Evidence," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(3), pages 563-83, June.
    Other versions:
  5. Lozano-Vivas, Ana, 1998. "Efficiency and Technical Change for Spanish Banks," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 289-300, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. David McCarthy & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2003. "International Adverse Selection in Life Insurance and Annuities," NBER Working Papers 9975, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. John Cawley & Tomas Philipson, 1999. "An Empirical Examination of Information Barriers to Trade in Insurance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(4), pages 827-846, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Patrick Bolton & Xavier Freixas & Joel Shapiro, 2004. "Conflicts of Interest, Information Provision, and Competition in Banking," NBER Working Papers 10571, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Boone, Jan, 2001. "Intensity of competition and the incentive to innovate," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 705-726, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Olivia S. Mitchell & David McCarthy, 2002. "Annuities for an Ageing World," CeRP Working Papers 21, Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies, Turin (Italy). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Tomas J. Philipson & Gary S. Becker, 1998. "Old-Age Longevity and Mortality-Contingent Claims," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(3), pages 551-573, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  13. Hirshhorn, Ron & Geehan, Randall, 1977. "Measuring the Real Output of the Life Insurance Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 59(2), pages 211-19, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Jaap Bikker & Michiel van Leuvensteijn, 2005. "An Exploration into Competition and Efficiency in the Dutch Life Insurance Industry," DNB Working Papers 047, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  15. E. Philip Davis, 2004. "Is there a Pensions Crisis in the U.K.?," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance, The International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 343-370, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Igal Hendel & Alessandro Lizzeri, 2003. "The Role Of Commitment In Dynamic Contracts: Evidence From Life Insurance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 118(1), pages 299-327, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  17. Olivia S. Mitchell, 2001. "Developments in Decumulation: The Role of Annuity Products in Financing Retirement," NBER Working Papers 8567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Jaap W. B. Bos & James W. Kolari, 2005. "Large Bank Efficiency in Europe and the United States: Are There Economic Motivations for Geographic Expansion in Financial Services?," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(4), pages 1555-1592, July. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  19. James M. Poterba, 1997. "The History of Annuities in the United States," NBER Working Papers 6001, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Mark V. Pauly & Kate H. Withers & Krupa Subramanian-Viswana & Jean Lemaire & John C. Hershey, 2003. "Price Elasticity of Demand for Term Life Insurance and Adverse Selection," NBER Working Papers 9925, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jaap Bikker & Michiel van Leuvensteijn, 2005. "An Exploration into Competition and Efficiency in the Dutch Life Insurance Industry," DNB Working Papers 047, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
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