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Financial policy and insurance development: Do financial reforms matter and how?

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  • Lee, Chien-Chiang
  • Chang, Chi-Hung

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between financial policies and life insurance development and how country-specific characteristics such as economic development level, financial structure, and governance environments influence the effect of financial reforms. We examine the association between life insurance development and the overall index as well as several sub-dimensions of financial reform, including interest rate liberalization, entry barriers, privatization, capital account restrictions, and securities market policy. We find that financial reforms alone are not significantly correlated with the development of the life insurance market. However, interest rate liberalization matters after accounting for the influence of country-specific characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Chien-Chiang & Chang, Chi-Hung, 2015. "Financial policy and insurance development: Do financial reforms matter and how?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 258-278.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:38:y:2015:i:c:p:258-278
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2015.03.004
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    2. Ingrid-Mihaela Dragotă & Cosmin Octavian Cepoi & Lavinia Ştefan, 2023. "Threshold effect for the life insurance industry: evidence from OECD countries," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 48(4), pages 799-820, October.
    3. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Lin, Chun-Wei & Zeng, Jhih-Hong, 2016. "Financial liberalization, insurance market, and the likelihood of financial crises," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 25-51.
    4. Balcilar, Mehmet & Gupta, Rangan & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Olasehinde-Williams, Godwin, 2018. "The synergistic effect of insurance and banking sector activities on economic growth in Africa," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 637-648.
    5. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Mario Cerrato & Xuan Zhang, 2016. "Analysing the Determinants of Credit Risk for General Insurance Firms in the UK," CESifo Working Paper Series 5971, CESifo.
    6. Gabriela-Mihaela MURESAN, 2019. "Public Perception Of Insurance In Romania: A Survey Of Insurance Consumers And Non-Consumers," Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, Faculty of Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia, vol. 2(21), pages 1-5.
    7. Yuan, Cheng & Jiang, Yu, 2020. "The marginal propensity to insure: An international analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 102-109.
    8. Ting Li & Menggang Li, 2020. "An Empirical Analysis of the Factors Influencing the Development of Insurance Industry in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    9. Chang, Chi-Hung, 2018. "The dynamic linkage between insurance and banking activities: An analysis on insurance sector assets," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 36-50.
    10. Gaganis, Chrysovalantis & Hasan, Iftekhar & Pasiouras, Fotios, 2020. "Cross-country evidence on the relationship between regulations and the development of the life insurance sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 256-272.
    11. Liu, Guanchun & Zhang, Chengsi, 2016. "The dynamic linkage between insurance activities and banking credit: Some new evidence from global countries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 40-53.
    12. Codruța MARE & Simona Laura DRAGOȘ & Ingrid-Mihaela DRAGOTĂ & Gabriela Mihaela MUREȘAN & Claudia Andreea UREAN, 2016. "Spatial Convergence Processes On The European Union’S Life Insurance Market," ECONOMIC COMPUTATION AND ECONOMIC CYBERNETICS STUDIES AND RESEARCH, Faculty of Economic Cybernetics, Statistics and Informatics, vol. 50(4), pages 93-107.
    13. Chen, Pei-Fen & Lin, Chun-Wei & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2019. "Financial crises, globalization, and insurer performance: Some international evidence," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 835-856.
    14. Lee, Hui Shan & Cheng, Fan Fah & Chong, Shyue Chuan & Sia, Bik Kai, 2018. "Influence of Macroeconomics Factors and Legal Stability to the Insurance Growth in the ASEAN-5 Countries," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 52(2), pages 219-229.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial reform; Life insurance development; Economic development; Financial structure; Governance environments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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