Insurance Market Regulation - Publications - Faculty & Research

23 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

It’s Called ‘Price Coherence,’ and It’s Surprisingly Bad for Consumers

historical or ongoing regulatory investigations in several other markets with price coherence: travel booking sites, hotel booking sites, insurance brokerages, insurance... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Air Transportation; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation

29 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Financial Crisis Caution Urged by Faculty Panel

income remained relatively stable, about 3 to 1. Over the last 20 years, however, the financial markets that financed the housing system in the United States changed remarkably. Local markets once dominated... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Five questions for Regina E. Herzlinger

undercapitalized, incompetent insurance entrants will be reduced by competition and regulation by state regulatory bodies. Q: In your new article in Harvard Business Review, you write, "The current... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Feb 1997
News

Herzlinger on Health Care: Revolution in Evolution

real market would permit Americans to buy health insurance for themselves, not from a shopper like an HMO. Americans are rejecting what they view as the unfair tactics that HMOs use to keep their costs down:... View Details

12 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers be Trusted with Their Own Health Care?

10, I trust the consumer to do the right thing,” he said. “(But) if you’re a regulator, and the consumer does the wrong thing one out of 10 times, that’s 10 percent, and that’s too much for a regulator to tolerate. There’s a disconnect... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

November 2009 (Revised March 2011)
Case

New York Life and Immediate Annuities

By: Julio J. Rotemberg and John T. Gourville

By positioning Immediate Annuities as "guaranteed lifetime income," New York Life has built itself a $1.4 billion per year business by 2009. However, to make Immediate Annuities a mainstream financial product for retirees, New York Life must understand why many... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Personal Finance; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Retirement; Salesforce Management; Insurance Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

June 1989 (Revised July 1993)
Case

CIGNA Worldwide

By: John A. Quelch

A CIGNA Worldwide (CWW) task group of European country directors and key functional managers is meeting in November 1988 to discuss how CWW should respond to the European Community's plan to remove existing internal barriers and restrictions to the free flow of goods... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Insurance; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Trade; Insurance Industry; Europe

Citation

Find at Harvard

01 Mar 2016
News

Off Script

(Thinkstock) Prescription drug spending increased by more than 13 percent in the United States in 2014, raising health insurance premiums and the ire of consumers and politicians. The reasons behind the rise are many, including the high... View Details

Keywords: Insurance Carriers and Related Activities; Insurance Carriers and Related Activities

07 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 7

Commission, chaired by Brooksley Born, issued a "Concept Release" inviting public comment on the relevance and appropriateness of existing regulation of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market, a View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2011 (Revised April 2011)
Background Note

Note on the Reinsurance Industry

By: Robert C. Pozen and Henoch Senbetta

This note begins with an overview of reinsurance contacts - their mechanics, types and pricing. It then discusses the structure of the reinsurance industry and the impact of recent crises on this industry. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Insurance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Structures; Insurance Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

01 Jun 2002
News

Books

While Enron made the headlines, Mills says, these other actors were culpable as well. The title of Mills' book derives from a comment made by former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt regarding the actions of teenager Jonathan Lebed who broke federal View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

29 Apr 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Use Personal Experience to Pick Winning Stocks

charging people egregious amounts for insurance that they didn't necessarily need," she says. "They were placing insurance at five times the cost they told regulators... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

29 Jan 2010
News

Back to Glass-Steagall?

collateralized debt obligations or derivatives, that contributed mightily to the financial market meltdown in 2008. So the question arises, would the Volker Rule really prevent another financial crisis? HBS professor David Moss argues... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance; Government

Web

Managing and Innovating in Financial Services - Course Catalog

navigate and shape an environment in which competition, technology and regulation are constantly changing. We will look at a variety of financial institutions and financial service providers including banks, nonbank financial... View Details

04 Dec 2000
What Do You Think?

Have We Overdone Deregulation and Privatization?

the California power industry, for example, she questioned the deregulation of wholesale markets first. Second, in response to consumer confusion, an anonymous respondent suggested that government could play a role in View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

25 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Has Occupational Licensing Outlived Its Usefulness?

what we find using data from the online platform we study, but we also confirmed this result in a nationally representative survey of consumers. At the market level, we find that more stringent occupational licensing View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Service

Career Coach

Kurt Piemonte

Kurt has been helping international students and professionals navigate US immigration regulations for 25 years. He also works with individuals seeking opportunities in Asia, including tactical approaches to identifying organizations and... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets

01 Dec 2009
News

An Action Plan for Economic Recovery

the notion that the Fed could be the primary regulator of every systemically risky institution is just not practical. That means it would need to be an expert on money market funds, hedge funds, and life... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance

11 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 11

United States, expanding coverage and regulating insurers. However, it was not clear that expanding coverage would resolve a longstanding dilemma of rising costs for insurance and care. As the Department of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 1999 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen

Pre-Paid Legal Services' business model reveals two key issues--managing the sales force and sales growth and managing claims. Students analyze the economics of the business and consider how to measure firm performance, how to evaluate and reward the sales force, and... View Details