As financial intermediaries in the health care delivery system, U.S. health insurers will be strongly affected by sweeping legislative reforms adopted in 2010, both in health care and in financial regulation. In this paper, we provide useful context for interpreting these reforms and for...

This paper explores the relation between capital and risk in the life insurance industry in the period after the adoption of life risk-based capital (RBC) regulation. To examine this issue, we use a simultaneous-equation partial-adjustment model. Three equations express the interrelations among...

In this article we explore U.S. life insurers' exposure to Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) and its potential impact on capital should the credit ratings of these bonds be lowered. We analyze two years: 2003 (well before the realization of problems with these instruments) and 2006 (immediately...

Market discipline examines the extent to which consumers and investors discipline misbehavior by financial institutions. Most previous studies have examined banks. In addition, the disciplinary function of consumers has been relatively neglected. This paper is the first to examine the...

Health care insurers have faced increased risks under the health care reform (PPACA) in the United States. By increasing the population of insureds, eliminating coverage caps, extending covered perils, and mandating minimum loss ratios, health care reform confronts insurers with the specter of...

In this paper we examine the impact of asset allocation strategies on the investment performance of life insurers in the U.S. We are especially interested in comparing the effects of active portfolio management to the effects of passive holding strategies. We model allocation decisions and...

This paper analyzes the relation between the patenting behavior of startup firms and the progress of those firms through the venture capital cycle. Linking data relating to venture capital financing of software startup firms with data concerning the patents obtained by those firms, we find...

There is serious debate about the effectiveness of the market to discipline regulated industries like banks and insurance. In this paper, we examine empirically the reaction of consumers to changes in the financial ratings of life insurers. We find that downgraded life insurers in the period...

Dearth of market values for firms in several industries is a serious limitation in empirical research. Book value and other proxies may not be satisfactory surrogates. This study provides the methodologies of matching-allocation and multiple imputation as remedies for lack of marked-to-market...

Capital structure studies have been occupied for several years with the questions of whether firms have targets for their capital structure and whether they rebalance actual capital structure towards those targets. Such studies routinely exclude the financial sector from their purview. In this...