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Adaptation and change in the Australian life insurance industry: an historical perspective

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  • Monica Keneley

Abstract

In the wake of the deregulation of the financial sector in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s the life insurance industry has undergone a period of rapid change and reorganisation. Part of this adjustment has been the move towards the integration of financial service provision and the rise of bancassurance. This paper investigates the strategies adopted by Australian life insurers as they moved into the increasingly competitive environment triggered by the lifting of government restrictions on banking practices. It compares the approach of life insurers with that adopted in an earlier period of expansion and change. During the 1950s and 1960s an influx of foreign owned insurance companies into the Australian market precipitated the diversification of domestic life insurers into other insurance markets. The catalyst for change in both cases was the change in information costs brought about by the change in the competitive environment. The experience of the Australian life insurance market would suggest that there is a link between changing information costs and changing organisational structures. However this link is circumscribed by the institutional environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Keneley, 2004. "Adaptation and change in the Australian life insurance industry: an historical perspective," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 91-109.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acbsfi:v:14:y:2004:i:1:p:91-109
    DOI: 10.1080/0958520042000176939
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Agency Problems and Residual Claims," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 327-349, June.
    2. Di Thomson & Malcolm Abbott, 1999. "Is There A Future For Mutual Deposit Taking Institutions In Australia?," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 18(2), pages 1-18, June.
    3. Tobias C. Hoschka, 1994. "Bancassurance in Europe," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-23455-4.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liam J. A. Lenten & David N. Rulli, 2006. "A Time-Series Analysis of the Demand for Life Insurance Companies in Australia: An Unobserved Components Approach," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 31(1), pages 41-66, June.
    2. Magnus Lindmark & Lars-Fredrik Andersson & Mike Adams, 2006. "The Evolution and Development of the Swedish Insurance Market," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 341-370.

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