Publications

June 1988
Case

John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.: The Inflation Strategy Task Force (B)

Describes what happened after the apparent eruption and traumas within the task force described in the (A) case. The task force moved from being "the very worst committee" according to one member to becoming "the very best." Tries to explain how and why. Also describes... View Details

Keywords: Business Processes; Insurance Industry

Educators

2016
Working Paper

Populism and the Return of the 'Paranoid Style': Some Evidence and a Simple Model of Demand for Incompetence as Insurance Against Elite Betrayal

By: Rafael Di Tella and Julio J. Rotemberg

We present a simple model of populism as the rejection of “disloyal” leaders. We show that adding the assumption that people are worse off when they experience low income as a result of leader betrayal (than when it is the result of bad luck) to a simple voter choice... View Details

Keywords: Corruption; Betrayal; Populism; Incompetence; Literacy; Crime and Corruption; Income; Ethics; Political Elections; Race; Residency

SSRN

Article

Populism and the Return of the 'Paranoid Style': Some Evidence and a Simple Model of Demand for Incompetence as Insurance against Elite Betrayal

By: Rafael Di Tella and Julio J. Rotemberg

We present a simple model of populism as the rejection of “disloyal” leaders. We show that adding the assumption that people are worse off when they experience low income as a result of leader betrayal (than when it is the result of bad luck) to a simple voter choice... View Details

Keywords: Populism; Corruption; Betrayal; Incompetence; Voting; Attitudes

2020
Working Paper

Internal Models, Make Believe Prices, and Bond Market Cornering

By: Ishita Sen and Varun Sharma

Exploiting position-level heterogeneity in regulatory incentives to misreport and novel data on regulators, we document that U.S. life insurers inflate the values of corporate bonds using internal models. We estimate an additional $9-$18 billion decline in regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Life Insurers; Capital Regulation; Internal Models; Corporate Bonds; Regulatory Supervision; Concentrated Ownership; Bonds; Capital; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Insurance; Investment Portfolio

SSRN

September 2013 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Ping An Health (PAH): Towards a Comprehensive Private Health Insurance Market in China

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Da Liu

Educators

April 2012
Article

Paying a Premium on Your Premium? Consolidation in the U.S. Health Insurance Industry

By: Leemore S. Dafny, Mark Duggan and Subramaniam Ramanarayanan

January 1998
Article

Risk Management, Capital Budgeting and Capital Structure Policy for Financial Institutions: An Integrated Approach

By: K. A. Froot and J. Stein

Keywords: Catastrophe Risk; Corporate Finance; Cost Of Capital; Banking And Insurance; Asset Pricing; Hedging; Banking; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Financial Markets; Insurance; Policy; Risk Management; Natural Disasters; Insurance Industry

2014
Chapter

Comparative Regulation of Market Intermediaries: Insights from the Indian Life Insurance Market

By: Santosh Anagol, Shawn A. Cole and Shayak Sarkar

September 2, 2020
Article

How to Pay for Public Option Without Tax Hike

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard Boxer

A bipartisan combination of the two parties’ most popular initiatives can expand health care coverage, significantly reduce costs, and enable freedom of choice, without raising taxes. Along the way, we can revitalize competition between public and private plans. Our... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance; Public Option; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Cost Management; United States

June 1977
Article

An Analytic Derivation of the Cost of Deposit Insurance and Loan Guarantees : An Application of Modern Option Pricing Theory

By: Robert C. Merton

Keywords: Cost; Insurance; Financing and Loans; Price; Theory

1995
Chapter

Incentive Problems in Financial Contracting: Impacts on Corporate Financing, Investment, and Risk Management Policies

By: K. Froot

Keywords: Catastrophe Risk; Corporate Finance; Cost Of Capital; Banking And Insurance; Asset Pricing; Hedging; Banking; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Financial Markets; Insurance; Policy; Risk Management; Natural Disasters; Insurance Industry

July 2006
Article

Media Reputation of the Insurance Industry: An Urgent Call for Strategic Communication Management

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr. and Matthias Vollbracht

Keywords: Media; Reputation; Insurance; Strategy; Communication; Management

Article

More Insurers, Lower Premiums: Evidence from Initial Pricing in the Health Insurance Marketplaces

By: Leemore S. Dafny, Jonathan Gruber and Christopher Ody

2020
Working Paper

Cutting the Gordian Knot of Employee Health Care Benefits and Costs: A Corporate Model Built on Employee Choice

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Barak D. Richman

The U.S. employer-based health insurance tax exclusion created a system of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) with limited insurance choices and transparency that may lock employed households into health plans that are costlier or different from those they prefer to... View Details

Keywords: After-tax Income; Consumer-driven Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Insurance; Income Inequality; Tax Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Insurance; Employees; Income; Taxation; Policy; United States

SSRN

Article

Efficiencies and Regulatory Shortcuts: How Should We Regulate Companies like Airbnb and Uber?

By: Benjamin Edelman and Damien Geradin

New software platforms use modern information technology, including full-featured web sites and mobile apps, to allow service providers and consumers to transact with relative ease and increased trust. These platforms provide notable benefits including reducing... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Regulation; Sharing Economy; Uber; Airbnb; Universal Service; Insurance; Market Platforms; Service Delivery; Software; Service Industry

Article

Overturning the ACA's Medicaid Expansion Would Likely Decrease Low-Income, Reproductive-Age Women's Healthcare Spending and Utilization

By: Lucy Chen, Richard G. Frank and Haiden A. Huskamp

In late 2020, the Supreme Court began hearing a case challenging the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which led to coverage gains for many low-income, reproductive-age women. To explore potential implications of a full ACA repeal for this population, we examined gains... View Details

Keywords: Medicaid; Women's Health; Health Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Gender; Insurance; Poverty; Health Industry; United States

Spring 2011
Article

CSR as Reputation Insurance: Primum Non Nocere

By: Dylan B. Minor and John Morgan

We provide a theoretical framework showing how CSR activities can insure a firm against lost reputation in the face of adverse events. We offer evidence for this linkage through a case study and a multi-year analysis of stock price responses for S&P 500 companies... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Insurance; Risk Management; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Reputation

19 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

Doomsday Coming for Catastrophic Risk Insurers?

European winters—on the brain. And he thinks you should, too. Froot, the André R. Jakurski Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, has spent more than 15 years researching how the View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Financial Services

1992
Chapter

The Role of Market Value Accounting in the Regulation of Insured Depository Institutions

By: S. Datar, W. Beaver and M. Wolfson

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Markets; Financial Institutions