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The Impact of Institutional Ownership on the Reinsurance Decision

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  • Rebecca Toppe Shortridge
  • Stephen M. Avila

Abstract

Risk management has a central role in corporate America. Insurance companies frequently manage risk by purchasing reinsurance because it reduces the downside risk (i.e., bankruptcy risk) of an insurer. Because reinsurance is costly, Mayers and Smith (1990, Journal of Business, 63: 19‐40) argue that reinsurance purchases should be negatively associated with the diversification of the owners' portfolios. Further, institutional owners play a significant role in equity markets yet we know little about their effect on firm behavior. The purpose of this study is to examine empirically the influence of institutional ownership on reinsurance for a sample of widely held property‐liability insurers. We hypothesize that insurers with higher levels of institutional ownership purchase less reinsurance. Using a sample of 45 publicly traded property‐liability insurers from 1995 to 1997, we demonstrate that the utilization of reinsurance decreases as the level of institutional ownership increases. This suggests that the diversification of the owners' portfolios is a determinant of the insurers' reinsurance decisions.

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  • Rebecca Toppe Shortridge & Stephen M. Avila, 2004. "The Impact of Institutional Ownership on the Reinsurance Decision," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 7(2), pages 93-106, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rmgtin:v:7:y:2004:i:2:p:93-106
    DOI: j.1098-1616.2004.00039.x
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    1. Noriyoshi Yanase & Piman Limpaphayom, 2017. "Organization Structure And Corporate Demand For Reinsurance: The Case Of The Japanese Keiretsu," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 84(2), pages 599-629, June.
    2. Nicos Scordis, 2020. "A note on risk and value from an underutilized dataset: Consolidated disclosures," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 105-112, March.
    3. Dionne, Georges & Desjardins, Denise, 2017. "Reinsurance Demand and Liquidity Creation," Working Papers 17-3, HEC Montreal, Canada Research Chair in Risk Management.
    4. Selim Mankaï & Aymen Belgacem, 2016. "Interactions Between Risk Taking, Capital, and Reinsurance for Property–Liability Insurance Firms," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 83(4), pages 1007-1043, December.
    5. Hiro Ito & Robert N. McCauley, 2022. "A Disaster Under-(Re)Insurance Puzzle: Home Bias in Disaster Risk-Bearing," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 70(4), pages 735-772, December.
    6. Sana Sheikh & Ali Murad Syed & Syed Sikander Ali Shah, 2018. "Corporate Reinsurance Utilisation and Capital Structure: Evidence from Pakistan Insurance Industry," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 43(2), pages 300-334, April.
    7. Chia-Ling Ho & Gene Lai & Sangyong Han & Licheng Jin, 2022. "Organisational structure, corporate governance and reinsurance decisions in the U.S. property-liability insurance industry," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 47(4), pages 737-784, October.

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