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Risk Management, Capital Budgeting, and Capital Structure Policy for Insurers and Reinsurers

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Listed author(s):
  • Kenneth A. Froot

Abstract

This article builds on Froot and Stein in developing a framework for analyzing the risk allocation, capital budgeting, and capital structure decisions facing insurers and reinsurers. The model incorporates three key features: (i) value-maximizing insurers and reinsurers face product-market as well as capital-market imperfections that give rise to well-founded concerns with risk management and capital allocation; (ii) some, but not all, of the risks they face can be frictionlessly hedged in the capital market; and (iii) the distribution of their cash flows may be asymmetric, which alters the demand for underwriting and hedging. We show these features result in a three-factor model that determines the optimal pricing and allocation of risk and capital structure of the firm. This approach allows us to integrate these features into: (i) the pricing of risky investment, underwriting, reinsurance, and hedging; and (ii) the allocation of risk across all of these opportunities, and the optimal amount of surplus capital held by the firm. Copyright The Journal of Risk and Insurance, 2007.

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File URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1539-6975.2007.00213.x
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Article provided by The American Risk and Insurance Association in its journal Journal of Risk & Insurance.

Volume (Year): 74 (2007)
Issue (Month): 2 ()
Pages: 273-299

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Handle: RePEc:bla:jrinsu:v:74:y:2007:i:2:p:273-299
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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
  • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies

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  1. Froot, Kenneth A., 2001. "The market for catastrophe risk: a clinical examination," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 529-571, May.
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Cited by:

  1. J. Augusto Felício & Carlos Robalo Freire, 2016. "From customer motivation to corporate performance. The role of strategic factors and distribution channels of financial service firms," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 10(1), pages 135-157, March.
  2. Julien Hardelin & Sabine Lemoyne de Forges, 2012. "Raising Capital in an Insurance Oligopoly Market," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 37(1), pages 83-108, March.
  3. Biener, Christian, 2013. "Pricing in Microinsurance Markets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 132-144.
  4. Augusto Felício, J. & Rodrigues, Ricardo, 2015. "Organizational factors and customers' motivation effect on insurance companies' performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1622-1629.
  5. Ben Ammar, Semir & Eling, Martin & Milidonis, Andreas, 2015. "Asset Pricing of Financial Insitutions: The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns in the Property/Liability Insurance Industry," Working Papers on Finance 1516, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance.
  6. Schlütter, Sebastian, 2011. "The role of frictional costs for insurance pricing and insurer default risk," ICIR Working Paper Series 07/11, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
  7. Lin, Yijia & Cox, Samuel H., 2008. "Securitization of catastrophe mortality risks," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 628-637, April.
  8. Gibson, Rajna & Habib, Michel A. & Ziegler, Alexandre, 2014. "Reinsurance or securitization: The case of natural catastrophe risk," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 79-100.
  9. Ralph S.J. Koijen & Motohiro Yogo, 2017. "Risk of Life Insurers: Recent Trends and Transmission Mechanisms," NBER Working Papers 23365, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  10. Landsman, Zinoviy & Neslehová, Johanna, 2008. "Stein's Lemma for elliptical random vectors," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 99(5), pages 912-927, May.
  11. Cynthia Van Hulle & Hans Degryse & Kristien Smedts, 2017. " Risk-sharing benefits and the capital structure of insurance companies," Working Papers Department of Accounting, Finance and Insurance (AFI) 571404, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting, Finance and Insurance (AFI).
  12. Niedrig, Tobias, 2015. "Optimal asset allocation for interconnected life insurers in the low interest rate environment under solvency regulation," SAFE Working Paper Series 97, Research Center SAFE - Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe, Goethe University Frankfurt.
  13. Zimmer, Anja & Schade, Christian & Gründl, Helmut, 2009. "Is default risk acceptable when purchasing insurance? Experimental evidence for different probability representations, reasons for default, and framings," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 11-23, February.
  14. Zimmer, Anja & Gründl, Helmut & Schade, Christian, 2012. "Be as safe as possible: A behavioral approach to the optimal corporate risk strategy of insurers," ICIR Working Paper Series 06/11, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
  15. Howard C. Kunreuther & Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan, 2007. "Evaluating The Effectiveness of Terrorism Risk Financing Solutions," NBER Working Papers 13359, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  16. Schlütter, Sebastian, 2011. "Capital requirements or pricing constraints? An economic analysis of measures for insurance regulation," ICIR Working Paper Series 03/11, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
  17. Erel, Isil & Myers, Stewart C. & Read, James A., 2015. "A theory of risk capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(3), pages 620-635.
  18. Truong, Chi & Trück, Stefan, 2016. "It’s not now or never: Implications of investment timing and risk aversion on climate adaptation to extreme events," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 253(3), pages 856-868.

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