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The effect of corporate risk management on cyber risk mitigation: Evidence from the insurance industry
Abstract
We examine how corporate risk management can be used to address a firm’s vulnerability to cyber risk. We use a large, novel dataset on cyber risk and corporate risk management to analyse US insurers’ cyber loss events during the period of 2000–2021. Our analysis includes information on whether insurers have implemented an enterprise risk management (ERM) programme and whether they report applying cyber risk management (CRM). The results illustrate that the implementation of CRM measures may have no significant effect on cyber risk mitigation. However, we determine that the likelihood (frequency) of a cyber loss event decreases by 3.9% (6.8%) as ERM programmes mature year on year. We also find that an insurer can benefit from implementing both CRM and ERM through a lowered event likelihood (frequency) of 3.8 percentage points on average (3.7 percentage points) per year compared to solely implementing an ERM programme.
The effect of microinsurance on the financial resilience of low-income households in Ghana: evidence from a propensity score matching analysis
Abstract
Microinsurance has emerged as a potential way to fortify the financial resilience of low-income households by providing a safety net against economic uncertainty and promoting financial inclusion for the poor. In light of the current economic downturn in Ghana, several institutions have advocated for the implementation of microinsurance programmes to support the financial stability of low-income households in the informal sector. This study assesses the impact of microinsurance on the financial resilience of the poor in Ghana, proxied by income and precautionary savings. The study analyses data on 1453 households from three regions using propensity score matching, Tobit and Probit instrumental variable techniques. The study finds that microinsurance adoption improves the financial resilience of the poor and reduces dependence on precautionary savings, a self-insurance strategy which significantly increases the financial burden on households, thereby exacerbating the impact of shocks.
Microinsurance in Ghana: investigating the impact of Outreville's four-factor framework and firm and product characteristics on adoption
Abstract
Microinsurance is a risk management tool for low-income households. However, its adoption is low in Ghana. This study examines the determinants of microinsurance adoption in Ghana, analysing primary data from 1453 households across six key markets and three regions. We also gathered secondary data from 14 microinsurance firms and 47 microinsurance products between 2017 and 2021. We estimate the critical factors influencing microinsurance uptake using robust probit, fixed-effects and panel-corrected standard error models. Our findings indicate that income levels, trust in financial institutions and participation in community risk management groups and the national health insurance scheme are the key determinants affecting microinsurance adoption. Firm- and product-specific factors such as affordability, outstanding claims, risk premiums and benefits paid to microinsurance participants also influence adoption. This study also highlights the crucial role of structural, social and economic factors in predicting demand for microinsurance, utilising Outreville's four-factor insurance demand framework.
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Special Issue in Celebration of the 50th Seminar of the European Group of Risk and Insurance Economists
The economics of self-protection
Abstract
Self-protection is a costly activity that reduces the probability of an unfavorable outcome. Even the simplest model with a binary risk of loss and expected utility of final wealth produces interesting comparative statics that are by no means trivial. This article provides a selective survey of the economics of self-protection. It puts particular emphasis on the contributions made by members of the European Group of Risk and Insurance Economists and research published in the Geneva Risk and Insurance Review. The article provides a conceptual framework to catalog existing models of self-protection, discusses the tension between risk aversion and downside risk aversion, reveals the role of probability thresholds, surveys extensions to non-expected utility, and highlights the recent surge in two-period models. Ideas for future research directions are also developed.
Risk preferences and risk perceptions in insurance experiments: some methodological challenges
Abstract
The ability to run experiments, or to see natural data as a quasi-experiment, does not free one from the need for theory when evaluating insurance behavior. Theory can be used to motivate the experimental design, evaluate latent effects from the experiment, or test hypotheses about latent effects or about observable effects that could be confounded by latent effects. The risk, evident in the broader behavioral literature in general, is the attention given to “behavioral story-telling” in lieu of rigorous scholarship. Such story-telling certainly has a role in fueling speculation about possible casual forces at work generating the data we see, but should not be mistaken for the final word. There is also a severe cost in terms of the heroic assumptions needed for identification. Again, such identifying assumptions can have a valuable role, but many general claims rely critically on those assumptions. Controlled laboratory experiments and Bayesian econometric methods should play a complementary role to field experiments and quasi-experiments. One clear lesson from the evaluation of methodological challenges is to use theory more, to explore the ability of “standard economics” to explain behavior. The time has long passed where straw men theories are set up to fail when confronted with behavior. Just as we want to consider flexible parametric functional forms when appropriate, we should be open to conventional economics applied more flexibly.