This paper investigates economies of scope in the US insurance industry over the period 1993-2006. We test the conglomeration hypothesis, which holds that firms can optimize by operating a diversity of businesses, versus the strategic focus hypothesis, which holds that firms can best add value...

The objective of this paper is to discuss the use of modern frontier efficiency analysis to analyze firm performance in the insurance industry. The objective is to provide the foundations for insurance economists to use in adapting their research to incorporate the frontier efficiency approach....