Publications

March 2021
Case

Humana (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ashley Ifeadike

To implement a bold new strategy, Humana needed to decide how to prioritize the pillars; where to own and where to partner; how much risk is acceptable; and how to continue to deliver strong operational performance while implementing a new strategy. Had the firm made... View Details

Keywords: Health ＆ Wellness; Health Care Industry; Health Care Costs; Health Insurance; Health Insurance Marketplaces; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Insurance; Strategy; Health Industry; United States

2014
Case

Changhong: Journey to Shared Services

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Haiyan Zhang and Guo Jia

Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Mianyang - an emerging inland science and technology city in Sichuan Province, Changhong Electric Co., Ltd., started from the military industry. It then entered the color TV industry and subsequently expanded to a wide range of... View Details

Keywords: China; Appliances; Finance ＆ Insurance; China

July 1, 2018
Editorial

The IRS Can Save American Health Care: Letting Workers Spend Pretax Dollars on Insurance Would Do a Lot—Without Requiring Congress to Act

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Joel Klein

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Article

Sustainability in Financial Services Is Not About Being Green

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

Keywords: Sustainability; Financial Services; Banks; Insurance Companies; Risk; Risk Management; Insurance; Accounting; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry

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

11 Jan 2017
Working Paper Summaries

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

Keywords: by Rafael Di Tella and Julio J. Rotemberg

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

Narrow Networks on the Health Insurance Exchanges: What Do They Look Like and How Do They Affect Pricing? A Case Study of Texas

By: Leemore S. Dafny, Igal Hendel and Nathan Wilson

January 2008
Article

On the Pricing of Intermediated Risks: Theory and Application to Catastrophe Reinsurance

By: K. A. Froot and P. O'Connell

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

2020
Working Paper

Institutional Corporate Bond Pricing

By: Ishita Sen, Lorenzo Bretscher, Lukas Schmid and Varun Sharma

We compile a rich dataset that links institutional investors' position level holdings with corporate bond characteristics and estimate demand elasticities with respect to critical sources of risk. Persistence in institutions' holdings provide us with an instrument to... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Bonds; Demand Systems; Insurance Companies; Mutual Funds; Liquidity; Bonds; Insurance; Investment Funds; Financial Liquidity

SSRN

July 2012
Case

Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. - The Belle of the Ball

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

In November of 2011 Transatlantic Holdings, Inc., a global property and casualty reinsurance company, announced it had agreed to sell itself to Alleghany Corporation, ending "the most frenzied takeover battle" of 2011, which involved competitors, Warren Buffett's... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Finance; Insurance And Reinsurance; Governance; Insurance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Strategy; Valuation; Insurance Industry; Insurance Industry; United States; Bermuda; Switzerland

Blog Post

Why Economic Conservatives Should Support the Individual Mandate in Health Care

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Although many conservatives are gnashing their teeth about the Supreme Court's upholding the individual mandate, had it not been upheld, their worst nightmares would have occurred: government would have required hundreds of billions in additional taxes to pay for... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Industry; Health Insurance; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: General Gale Pollock and Services for the Vision Impaired

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Tessa Natanay Hamilton and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Teaching note for case 314029. Following a successful military career as an Army Nurse, achieving rank as Major General, becoming the first female Acting Surgeon General of the Army, and the 22nd Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, Pollock developed a vested interest in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Education; Insurance Companies; Military; Leadership Skills; Health Care and Treatment; Education; Insurance; Business Startups; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Change Management; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry

Article

The Market for Catastrophe Risk: A Clinical Examination

By: K. A. Froot

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

April 24, 2023
Article

In the COVID Era, Why Corporate Benefits Demand CEO/CFO Leadership

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

The expectation that employers provide their employees’ health benefits has been around since World War II. Unfortunately, although today’s employees expect employers to treat them as individuals, ease their experiences, prioritize their wellbeing, and control cost,... View Details

Keywords: COVID; COVID-19 Pandemic; CEO; Leadership; Health Insurance; Benefits; CFO; Compensation and Benefits

December 2002
Article

The Pricing of Event Risks with Parameter Uncertainty

By: K. A. Froot and S. Posner

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

March 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Rough Justice: Stuart Eizenstat and Holocaust-era Asset Restitution (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green

Beginning in 1994, a series of articles and public disclosures indicated that Swiss banks may have retained assets belonging to victims of the Holocaust, and also may have engaged in long term attempts to block survivors' ability to recover those assets after World War... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Banking And Insurance; U.s. History; Germany; Europe; Governance; History; Negotiation; Business and Government Relations; Insurance Industry; Insurance Industry; Germany; United States; Switzerland

August 2014
Case

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Inc.

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Meng Li

Keywords: Health; Health Care Industry; Health Insurance; United States; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States; Florida