One unusual feature of the U.S. property-casualty insurance industry is the coexistence of stock and mutual companies. This paper explores the performance of these forms in the industry through a dynamic assessment of how mutual and stock insurance companies respond to differences in their...

This paper considers the effect of tort liability reforms on medical malpractice and general liability insurance markets. The primary reforms analyzed were damages caps and other liability reforms. These reforms decreased premiums, reduced losses, and improved the profitability of insurance...

The liability crisis of the eighties led to the enactment of the federal Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986, which encouraged the formation of risk retention groups, a new organizational form that is incorporated under a federal charter. We use risk retention groups as a proxy for insurers...

Natural catastrophes often have catastrophic risks on insurance companies as well as on the insured. Using a very large dataset on homeowners' insurance coverage by state, by firm, and by year for the 1984 to 2004 period, this paper documents the positive effect on losses and loss ratios of both...