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Efficiency and profitability in the global insurance industry

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  • Eling, Martin
  • Jia, Ruo

Abstract

We examine the relationship between firm efficiency (E) and profitability (P) with a global dataset of over 5000 insurance companies. Consistent with previous studies in banking and insurance, we document a significantly positive correlation between the efficiency measures and profitability measures. Beyond the extant evidence, we find significant industry dependency in the E-P relationship driven by industry idiosyncrasies, whereas efficiency is more critical to the profitability of life insurers than to that of nonlife insurers. We also show that the E-P relationship is nonlinear: the marginal impact of efficiency on profitability decreases as the insurer's efficiency is close to the best practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Eling, Martin & Jia, Ruo, 2019. "Efficiency and profitability in the global insurance industry," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:57:y:2019:i:c:s0927538x18306462
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2019.101190
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    Cited by:

    1. Bojan Srbinoski & Klime Poposki & Gorazd Čibej, 2021. "An empirical investigation of determinants of life insurers’ performance: Evidence from selected countries in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe (CESEE)," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 24(3), pages 293-310, September.
    2. Chen, Yan & Zhang, Lei & Zhao, Yulu & Xu, Bing, 2022. "Implementation of penalized survival models in churn prediction of vehicle insurance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 162-171.
    3. Daniel Ofori-Sasu & John Kuwornu & Gloria Clarissa Dzeha & Baah Aye Kusi, 2022. "Risk behaviour and insurance efficiency: the role of ownership and regulations from an emerging economies," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(7), pages 1-30, July.
    4. Alhassan, Abdul Latif, 2023. "Financial Health of Medical Schemes in South Africa," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    5. Suarez-Fernandez, Sara & Quiroga-Garcia, Raquel & Manzano-Perez, Isabel, 2021. "A Comparison of DEA and SFA Approaches: Application to the US Non-Life Insurance Market," Asian Journal of Applied Economics/ Applied Economics Journal, Kasetsart University, Faculty of Economics, Center for Applied Economic Research, vol. 28(2), pages 107-127, December.
    6. Amelia Bilbao-Terol & Mar Arenas-Parra & Raquel Quiroga-García & Celia Bilbao-Terol, 2022. "An extended best–worst multiple reference point method: application in the assessment of non-life insurance companies," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 5323-5362, November.
    7. Raed Ibrahim Mohamad Ibrahim & Pelin Bayram, 2024. "The effect of customer engagement on customer loyalty: indication from the insurance industry in Jordan," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(2), pages 406-422, June.
    8. Shoaib Alam Siddiqui & Ali Shaddady, 2023. "How Profit Efficient is Indian Life Insurance Industry: A DEA Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    9. Dariush Akbarian, 2021. "Network DEA based on DEA-ratio," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, December.
    10. J. David Cummins & María Rubio-Misas, 2022. "Integration and convergence in efficiency and technology gap of European life insurance markets," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 315(1), pages 93-119, August.
    11. David Cummins, J. & Rubio-Misas, María, 2021. "Country factor behavior for integration improvement of European life insurance markets," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 186-202.
    12. Rubio-Misas, María, 2020. "Ownership structure and financial stability: Evidence from Takaful and conventional insurance firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    13. Jorge Antunes & Abdollah Hadi-Vencheh & Ali Jamshidi & Yong Tan & Peter Wanke, 2022. "Bank efficiency estimation in China: DEA-RENNA approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 315(2), pages 1373-1398, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Insurance; Data envelopment analysis (DEA); Frontier efficiency analysis; Firm performance; Industry dependency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm

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