The catastrophic losses from the combined 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons resulted in significant price increases and mass non-renewals in the residential property insurance market in Florida. The public outcry to these insurer decisions yielded a highly salient insurance pricing environment. On...

Theoretical expectations related to market discipline generally suggest a positive relationship between firm financial strength and price. We examine market discipline in the individual annuity market by measuring annuity contract yields during the accumulation phase and find that, among other...

Insurers operate in a complex market in which many firms compete for business. In this context, we examine the use of contingent commission compensation arrangements for independent agents and we explore whether the use of contingent commission compensation arrangements is justified for this...

We analyze life insurance policy surrender activity to determine whether surrender is a function of certain macroeconomic variables and, therefore, highly correlated across policies. Results support the Emergency Fund Hypothesis and the Interest Rate Hypothesis. In addition, we provide evidence...