IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/servic/v18y1998i4p145-161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ownership and Governance in the Insurance Industry: A Review of the Theory and Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Noel O'Sullivan

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to review the coexistence of mutual and proprietary insurance companies from a corporate governance perspective.The paper begins by reviewing the theoretical justification for the existence of mutual and proprietary companies in the insurance industry. The paper then examines the empirical evidence on insurance company performance and seeks to identify whether organisational structure influences managerial behaviour. Finally, the paper analyses the impactof insurance conversions (i.e. mutualisation and demutualisation) on the welfare of po1icyholders,shareholders and managers in order to identify whether the conversion process is motivated by efficiency or expropriation objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Noel O'Sullivan, 1998. "Ownership and Governance in the Insurance Industry: A Review of the Theory and Evidence," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 145-161, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:servic:v:18:y:1998:i:4:p:145-161
    DOI: 10.1080/02642069800000046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02642069800000046
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/02642069800000046?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:3:p:593-616 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Agency Problems and Residual Claims," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 327-349, June.
    3. Mayers, David & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1992. "Executive Compensation in the Life Insurance Industry," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(1), pages 51-74, January.
    4. Henry G. Manne, 1965. "Mergers and the Market for Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(2), pages 110-110.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    6. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    7. Fama, Eugene F. & Jensen, Michael C., 1985. "Organizational forms and investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 101-119, March.
    8. Demsetz, Harold & Lehn, Kenneth, 1985. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership: Causes and Consequences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(6), pages 1155-1177, December.
    9. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    10. Henry G. Manne, 1965. "Mergers and the Market for Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(4), pages 351-351.
    11. Smith, Bruce D & Stutzer, Michael J, 1990. "Adverse Selection, Aggregate Uncertainty, and the Role for Mutual Insurance Contracts," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(4), pages 493-510, October.
    12. Kroll, Mark & Wright, Peter & Theerathorn, Pochera, 1993. "Whose interests do hired top managers pursue? An examination of select mutual and stock life insurers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 133-148, February.
    13. Baker, G.P. & Jensen, M.C. & Murphy, K.J., 1988. "Compensation And Incentives: Practice Vs. Theory," Papers 88-05, Rochester, Business - Managerial Economics Research Center.
    14. Lamm-Tennant, Joan & Starks, Laura T, 1993. "Stock versus Mutual Ownership Structures: The Risk Implications," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(1), pages 29-46, January.
    15. Fama, Eugene F, 1980. "Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 288-307, April.
    16. Mayers, David & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1981. "Contractual Provisions, Organizational Structure, and Conflict Control in Insurance Markets," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(3), pages 407-434, July.
    17. Mayers, David & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1988. "Ownership Structure across Lines of Property-Casualty Insurance," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(2), pages 351-378, October.
    18. Diacon, Stephen R. & O'Sullivan, Noel, 1995. "Does corporate governance influence performance? Some evidence from U.K. insurance companies," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 405-424, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valnek, Tomas, 1999. "The comparative performance of mutual building societies and stock retail banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 925-938, June.
    2. Enya He & David W. Sommer, 2010. "Separation of Ownership and Control: Implications for Board Composition," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 77(2), pages 265-295, June.
    3. Pradiptarathi PANDA & Jinesh PANCHALI, 2019. "Corporate ownership structure and performance: An enquiry into India," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(4(621), W), pages 93-110, Winter.
    4. Peter M Clarkson & Shams Pathan & Andrew Tellam, 2016. "Do private equity target firms exhibit less effectual governance structures?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(2), pages 244-270, May.
    5. Isabel Gutierrez & Jordi Surroca, 2014. "Revisiting corporate governance through the lens of the Spanish evidence," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 18(4), pages 989-1017, November.
    6. Becker, Bo & Cronqvist, Henrik & Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2011. "Estimating the Effects of Large Shareholders Using a Geographic Instrument," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(4), pages 907-942, August.
    7. Fabrice Roth, 2012. "Crise et régulation des marchés financiers : Quel impact sur les formes mutuelles dans l'assurance ?," Working Papers halshs-00692342, HAL.
    8. Oesterle, Michael-Jörg & Richta, Hannah Noriko & Fisch, Jan Hendrik, 2013. "The influence of ownership structure on internationalization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 187-201.
    9. Moerland, Pieter W., 1995. "Alternative disciplinary mechanisms in different corporate systems," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 17-34, January.
    10. Wise William, 2020. "The Importance of the Efficiency of Mutual Life Insurers: A Comparison to Stock Life Insurers," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 20(1), pages 474-505, June.
    11. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    12. Barkema, H.G., 1989. "An empirical test of Holmstroem's principal-agent model that takes tax and signally hypotheses explicitly into account," Other publications TiSEM 3473b3e9-a1c8-47b1-a938-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. repec:agr:journl:v:4(621):y:2019:i:4(621):p:93-110 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. J. David Cummins & Mary A. Weiss & Hongmin Zi, 1998. "Organizational Form and Efficiency: An Analysis of Stock and Mutual Property-Liability Insurers," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 97-02, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    15. Martin Conyon & Annita Florou, 2002. "Top executive dismissal, ownership and corporate performance," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 209-225.
    16. Attiya Y. Javid & Robina Iqbal, 2010. "Corporate Governance in Pakistan : Corporate Valuation, Ownership and Financing," Governance Working Papers 22830, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    17. Guidi, Marco G.D. & Hillier, Joe & Tarbert, Heather, 2010. "Successfully reshaping the ownership relationship by reducing ‘moral debt’ and justly distributing residual claims: The cases from Scott Bader Commonwealth and the John Lewis Partnership," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 318-328.
    18. Bushman, Robert M. & Smith, Abbie J., 2001. "Financial accounting information and corporate governance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 237-333, December.
    19. Howell, Jason W., 2017. "The survival of the U.S. dual class share structure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 440-450.
    20. Barkema, H.G., 1989. "An empirical test of Holmstroem's principal-agent model that takes tax and signally hypotheses explicitly into account," Research Memorandum FEW 405, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    21. Gardner, L. A. & M. F. Grace, "undated". "Efficiency Comparisons between Mutual and Stock Life Insurance Companies," Working Papers 012, Risk and Insurance Archive.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:servic:v:18:y:1998:i:4:p:145-161. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FSIJ20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.