The interaction between mathematicians and statisticians has been shown to be an effective approach for dealing with actuarial, insurance and financial problems, both from an academic perspective and from an operative one. The collection of original papers presented in this volume pursues precisely this purpose. It covers a wide variety of subjects in actuarial, insurance and finance fields, all treated in the light of the successful cooperation between the above two quantitative approaches. The papers published in this volume present theoretical and methodological contributions and their applications to real contexts. With respect to the theoretical and methodological contributions, some of the considered areas of investigation are: actuarial models; alternative testing approaches; behavioral finance; clustering techniques; coherent and non-coherent risk measures; credit scoring approaches; data envelopment analysis; dynamic stochastic programming; financial contagion models; financial ratios; intelligent financial trading systems; mixture normality approaches; Monte Carlo-based methods; multicriteria methods; nonlinear parameter estimation techniques; nonlinear threshold models; particle swarm optimization; performance measures; portfolio optimization; pricing methods for structured and non-structured derivatives; risk management; skewed distribution analysis; solvency analysis; stochastic actuarial valuation methods; variable selection models; time series analysis tools. As regards the applications, they are related to real problems associated, among the others, to: banks; collateralized fund obligations; credit portfolios; defined benefit pension plans; double-indexed pension annuities; efficient-market hypothesis; exchange markets; financial time series; firms; hedge funds; non-life insurance companies; returns distributions; socially responsible mutual funds; unit-linked contracts. This book is aimed at academics, Ph.D. students, practitioners, professionals and researchers. But it will also be of interest to readers with some quantitative background knowledge.

Following events such as the 2008 credit crunch and financial crisis, many sectors of the economy suffered; nevertheless, reinsurance managed to maintain its strong position in the market industry and the global economic arena. Arbitration has traditionally been used in reinsurance, due in no small part to its effective, time- and cost-efficient nature. Hence, reinsurance contracts often include arbitration clauses requiring that any and all disputes arising under the contract be resolved by arbitration. The current work provides an in-depth treatment of reinsurance arbitrations and the various issues they entail in the most representative jurisdictions for such arbitrations. It also aims to pave the way for future directions of arbitration in the context of reinsurance. Any participant in the reinsurance market arena looking for a roadmap to the fascinating legal environment in which reinsurance arbitrations operate would be well advised to have this book on hand.

This book is an overview of the hazards of firefighting, the health risks of exposure to combustion products that characterize firefighting, the science behind interpreting these risks for purposes of identifying diseases as work-related, and the legal and policy implications of adopting legislated "presumption" for purposes of compensation. The emphasis of the book will be on the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, traumatic hazards, and disabling psychosocial adjustment following major incidents. Several new studies have appeared recently, including the largest study of firefighters ever done, by the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH). They evidence supports the conclusion that firefighters face significant occupational health risks in addition to the obviously severe safety hazards.

This volume aims to collect new ideas presented in the form of 4 page papers dedicated to mathematical and statistical methods in actuarial sciences and finance. The cooperation between mathematicians and statisticians working in insurance and finance is a very fruitful field and provides interesting scientific products in theoretical models and practical applications, as well as in scientific discussion of problems of national and international interest. This work reflects the results discussed at the biennial conference on Mathematical and Statistical Methods for Actuarial Sciences and Finance (MAF), born at the University of Salerno in 2004.

* Provides a comprehensive coverage of both the deterministic and stochastic models of life contingencies, risk theory, credibility theory, multi-state models, and an introduction to modern mathematical nance. * New edition restructures the material to t into modern computational methods and provides several spreadsheet examples throughout. * Covers the syllabus for the Institute of Actuaries subject CT5, Contingencies * Includes new chapters covering stochastic investments returns, universal life insurance. Elements of option pricing and the Black-Scholes formula will be introduced.

Focusing on what actuaries need in practice, this introductory account provides readers with essential tools for handling complex problems and explains how simulation models can be created, used and re-used (with modifications) in related situations. The book begins by outlining the basic tools of modelling and simulation, including a discussion of the Monte Carlo method and its use. Part II deals with general insurance and Part III with life insurance and financial risk. Algorithms that can be implemented on any programming platform are spread throughout and a program library written in R is included. Numerous figures and experiments with R-code illustrate the text. The author's non-technical approach is ideal for graduate students, the only prerequisites being introductory courses in calculus and linear algebra, probability and statistics. The book will also be of value to actuaries and other analysts in the industry looking to update their skills.

Focusing on life insurance and pensions, this book addresses various aspects of modelling in modern insurance: insurance liabilities; asset-liability management; securitization, hedging, and investment strategies. With contributions from internationally renowned academics in actuarial science, finance, and management science and key people in major life insurance and reinsurance companies, there is expert coverage of a wide range of topics, for example: models in life insurance and their roles in decision making; an account of the contemporary history of insurance and life insurance mathematics; choice, calibration, and evaluation of models; documentation and quality checks of data; new insurance regulations and accounting rules; cash flow projection models; economic scenario generators; model uncertainty and model risk; model-based decision-making at line management level; models and behaviour of stakeholders. With author profiles ranging from highly specialized model builders to decision makers at chief executive level, this book should prove a useful resource to students and academics of actuarial science as well as practitioners.

This Brief presents a benefit-cost analysis of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as well as an evaluation of its cumulative socioeconomic effects. Created by Congress in 1968, the NFIP provides flood insurance protection to property owners, in return for local government commitment to sound floodplain management. Since 1994, the NFIP has included a Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program to provide local communities with support for flood mitigation. This book offers quantitative evidence of the net social benefit of the NFIP for the years 1996-2010, including an independent assessment of the consumer benefit. Second, it provides distributionally weighted analysis to show the socioeconomic effects of payments and claims. Finally, this Brief includes an analysis of the change in government revenue attributable to the NFIP and FMA programs. The models used in each component of the analysis are usable by others for extending and revising the analysis. Providing a comprehensive analysis of this increasingly important federal policy, this Brief will be of use to students of environmental economics and public policy as well as those interested in risk management in the era of climate change.

How much is a human life worth? Individuals, families, companies, and governments routinely place a price on human life. The calculations that underlie these price tags are often buried in technical language, yet they influence our economy, laws, behaviors, policies, health, and safety. These price tags are often unfair, infused as they are with gender, racial, national, and cultural biases that often result in valuing the lives of the young more than the old, the rich more than the poor, whites more than blacks, Americans more than foreigners, and relatives more than strangers. This is critical since undervalued lives are left less-protected and more exposed to risk. Howard Steven Friedman explains in simple terms how economists and data scientists at corporations, regulatory agencies, and insurance companies develop and use these price tags and points a spotlight at their logical flaws and limitations. He then forcefully argues against the rampant unfairness in the system. Readers will be enlightened, shocked, and, ultimately, empowered to confront the price tags we assign to human lives and understand why such calculations matter.

Risk compensation postulates that everyone has a "risk thermostat" and that safety measures that do not affect the setting of the thermostat will be circumvented by behaviour that re-establishes the level of risk with which people were originally comfortable. It explains why, for example, motorists drive faster after a bend in the road is straightened. Cultural theory explains risk-taking behaviour by the operation of cultural filters. It postulates that behaviour is governed by the probable costs and benefits of alternative courses of action which are perceived through filters formed from all the previous incidents and associations in the risk-taker's life.; "Risk" should be of interest to many readers throughout the social sciences and in the world of industry, business, engineering, finance and public administration, since it deals with a fundamental part of human behaviour that has enormous financial and economic implications.

Many risks face the global insurance industry today, including the aging populations of developed countries, competition from other financial institutions, and both disparate and quickly changing regulatory demands, to name a few. The book s contributors offer their unique perspectives on challenges confronting the insurance industry and how attendant risks can be most effectively managed.

In this highly influential textbook, first published in 1952, actuaries Ogborn and Coe provide a condensed overview of many aspects of life assurance for the actuary-in-training. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of actuarial practice.

The book offers a comprehensive analysis of insurance intermediaries from a capital markets perspective. It presents an up-to-date market perspective, drawing the attention to the important trends and developments in the industry and recommends strategies to secure future growth. Further, it offers a detailed description of a valuation approach specifically tailored to small and mid-sized brokers. Research on insurance intermediary M&A reveals that positive abnormal returns are achieved for acquirers. The author points out which factors lead to value creation and investigates performance drivers in the tied agent channel.

Insurance is an extraordinarily useful tool to manage risk. When it works as intended, it provides financial protection to individuals and a profitable business model for insurance firms and their investors. But it is broadly misunderstood by consumers, regulators, and insurance executives. This book looks at the behavior of individuals at risk, insurance industry decision makers, and policy makers at the local, state, and federal level involved in the selling, buying, and regulating of insurance. It compares their actions to those predicted by benchmark models of choice derived from classical economic theory. When actual choices stray from predictions, the behavior is considered to be anomalous. With considerable sums of money at stake, both in consumer premiums and insurance company payouts, it is important to understand the reasons for anomalous behavior. Howard Kunreuther, Mark Pauly, and Stacey McMorrow examine these anomalies through the lens of behavioral economics, which takes into account emotions, biases, and simplified decision rules. The authors then consider if and how such behavioral anomalies could be modified to improve individual and social welfare. This book is neither a defense of the insurance industry nor an attack on it. Neither is it a consumer guide to purchasing insurance, although the authors believe that consumers will benefit from the insights it contains. Rather, this book describes situations in which both public policy and the insurance industry s collective posture need to change. This may require incentives, rules, and institutions to help reduce both inefficient and anomalous behavior, thereby encouraging behavior that will improve individual and social welfare.

The future of the insurance regulation begins now For those involved with the insurance industry, from investment professionals to policy makers, and regulators to legislators, tremendous change is coming. With insurance premiums constituting an ever-growing portion of annual U.S. GDP and provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act specifically calling for modernization of insurance regulations, the issues at hand are pervasive. In Modernizing Insurance Regulation, these issues are described against a backdrop of the political and industry discussions that surround insurance, regulation, and systemic risk. Experts Viral V. Acharya and Matthew Richardson discuss a variety of issues with top thinkers in the fields of finance, derivatives, credit risk, and banking to bring to light the most germane elements of this ongoing discussion. In Modernizing Insurance Regulation, Acharya and Richardson call on the expertise of all the relevant stakeholders within government, academia, and industry to offer a well-rounded and independent view of insurance regulation and how the evolution of this key industry affects the U.S. economy now and in the future. * Provides an overview of the feasibility of maintaining a state-level regulatory structure * Offers a view of the issues from top academics, industry leaders, and state regulators * Explores the debate surrounding the insurance industry and systemic risk * Provides an in-depth look at upcoming changes under the Dodd-Frank Act Modernizing Insurance Regulation provides a look into the crucial changes coming to insurance regulation and an overview of how those changes will affect almost everyone.

Risk management for financial institutions is one of the key topics the financial industry has to deal with. The present volume is a mathematically rigorous text on solvency modeling. Currently, there are many new developments in this area in the financial and insurance industry (Basel III and Solvency II), but none of these developments provides a fully consistent and comprehensive framework for the analysis of solvency questions. Merz and Wuthrich combine ideas from financial mathematics (no-arbitrage theory, equivalent martingale measure), actuarial sciences (insurance claims modeling, cash flow valuation) and economic theory (risk aversion, probability distortion) to provide a fully consistent framework. Within this framework they then study solvency questions in incomplete markets, analyze hedging risks, and study asset-and-liability management questions, as well as issues like the limited liability options, dividend to shareholder questions, the role of re-insurance, etc. This work embeds the solvency discussion (and long-term liabilities) into a scientific framework and is intended for researchers as well as practitioners in the financial and actuarial industry, especially those in charge of internal risk management systems. Readers should have a good background in probability theory and statistics, and should be familiar with popular distributions, stochastic processes, martingales, etc.

In dieser Open-Access-Publikation analysieren die Autoren die oeffentliche Debatte um Chancen und Risiken von Big Data und diskutieren die konkreten Implikationen in verschiedenen Lebensbereichen. In einer reprasentativen Befragung vermessen sie das Wissen und die Einstellung der Bevoelkerung zu Big Data. Im Ergebnis verhalten sich die Nutzer paradox, sorglos und besorgt zugleich. Gezeigt wird aber auch, an welchen Punkten die Burger aufgeschlossen fur einen neuen Umgang mit Big Data sind. Daten-Sharing, Open Data finden durchaus Akzeptanz, ebenso auch neue Muster fur bestehende Branchen, jenseits der tradierten Vorstellungen.

In four empirical studies, this cumulative work provides valuable insights for marketing executives of statutory health insurance funds and social media responsible. Paper I and II provide evidence about the importance and interplay of price and corporate reputation on the market of statutory health insurance. The second part changes perspective to corporate communication issues in the social media environment. By introducing the "social media brand value chain" paper III conducts a literature review of state of the art social media research. By means of a field experiment on Facebook, paper IV shows that brands do not necessarily have to communicate via their brand fan pages in a highly interactive and vivid way to positively influence attitudinal measures among their fan base.

Knowledge of risk models and the assessment of risk is a fundamental part of the training of actuaries and all who are involved in financial, pensions and insurance mathematics. This book provides students and others with a firm foundation in a wide range of statistical and probabilistic methods for the modelling of risk, including short-term risk modelling, model-based pricing, risk-sharing, ruin theory and credibility. It covers much of the international syllabuses for professional actuarial examinations in risk models, but goes into further depth, with worked examples, exercises and detailed case studies. The authors also use the statistical package R to demonstrate how simple code and functions can be used profitably in an actuarial context. The authors' engaging and pragmatic approach, balancing rigour and intuition and developed over many years of teaching the subject, makes this book ideal for self-study or for students taking courses in risk modelling.

This book explores the central problems underlying the insurance of aviation war and terrorism risks and associated perils. It critically analyses the reasons why conventional insurance markets are unwilling or unable to provide sustainable insurance coverage for aviation war and terrorism risks in the aftermath of catastrophic events such as the terrorist events of September 11, 2001. It also examines some of the prominent concepts proposed and/or implemented after 9/11 to determine whether and to what extent these concepts avoid identified pitfalls. Like many of life's essentials, the importance of insurance is most evident when it is not available. The sheer scale and magnitude of the insurance losses that followed 9/11 caused conventional insurance markets (which hitherto had been offering generous insurance coverage for aviation war and terrorism risks to air transport operators for little or no premium) to withdraw coverage forthwith. The ensuing absence or insufficiency of commercial insurance coverage for aviation war and terrorism risks has sparked a global search for viable and sustainable alternatives. Ten years have since elapsed, and despite numerous efforts, the fundamental problems remain unresolved. The book proceeds on the premise that the underlying issues are not entirely legal in nature; they have immense economic, psychological and policy implications that cannot be underestimated. A multidisciplinary approach is therefore used in examining the issues, drawing heavily upon analytical principles adapted from law and economics and behavioural law and economics. It is hoped that the resulting study will be beneficial not only to lawyers and those interested in aviation insurance but also to economists, air transport insurance program managers, capital market investors and governmental policymakers, both at the national and international levels.

Health Insurance aims at filling a gap in actuarial literature, attempting to solve the frequent misunderstanding in regards to both the purpose and the contents of health insurance products (and 'protection products', more generally) on the one hand, and the relevant actuarial structures on the other. In order to cover the basic principles regarding health insurance techniques, the first few chapters in this book are mainly devoted to the need for health insurance and a description of insurance products in this area (sickness insurance, accident insurance, critical illness covers, income protection, long-term care insurance, health-related benefits as riders to life insurance policies). An introduction to general actuarial and risk-management issues follows. Basic actuarial models are presented for sickness insurance and income protection (i.e. disability annuities). Several numerical examples help the reader understand the main features of pricing and reserving in the health insurance area. A short introduction to actuarial models for long-term care insurance products is also provided. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students in actuarial sciences; graduate students in economics, business and finance; and professionals and technicians operating in insurance and pension areas will find this book of benefit.

This is a comprehensive and accessible reference source that documents the theoretical and practical aspects of all the key deterministic and stochastic reserving methods that have been developed for use in general insurance. Worked examples and mathematical details are included, along with many of the broader topics associated with reserving in practice. The key features of reserving in a range of different contexts in the UK and elsewhere are also covered. The book contains material that will appeal to anyone with an interest in claims reserving. It can be used as a learning resource for actuarial students who are studying the relevant parts of their professional bodies' examinations, as well as by others who are new to the subject. More experienced insurance and other professionals can use the book to refresh or expand their knowledge in any of the wide range of reserving topics covered in the book.