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Insurers : too many, too few, or"just right"? initial observations on a cross-country dataset of concentration and competition measures

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  • Thorburn, Craig

Abstract

In many markets, industry and policymakers agree that there may be too many insurers. In others, the consensus is that there could be benefit from more competition. But this broad consensus is often supported by evidence that is more qualitative, anecdotal, or judgmental despite being unanimous.What is less clear, however, is how far consolidation or liberalization will go, how fast, and when it will end. This paper presents some initial observations from a cross-country data set and proposes that individual country results can be interpreted against this data set to inform expectations regarding trends in competition, concentration and consolidation, to inform analysis of the sector, for individual firm strategic planning and wider market risk assessments. A"natural level"for measures is suggested as a starting hypothesis. Further consideration is then made of the role of absolute market size, stage of market development, and differentials between life and non life segments. Analysis of the natural level, adjusted for market conditions, can then be used to develop preliminary views on current and expected market dynamics, strategic planning, and to inform policy, regulatory and supervisory priorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Thorburn, Craig, 2008. "Insurers : too many, too few, or"just right"? initial observations on a cross-country dataset of concentration and competition measures," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4578, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4578
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Senarathne Chamil W. & Long Wei, 2019. "Industry Competition and Common Stock Returns," Management Sciences. Nauki o Zarządzaniu, Sciendo, vol. 24(3), pages 24-35, September.
    2. Lada Shirinyan & Aram Shirinyan, 2019. "New Methodology of Complex Assessment of the Insurance Services Market of Ukraine: Scale and Competition Factors, Trends and Comparisons," Oblik i finansi, Institute of Accounting and Finance, issue 1, pages 114-138, March.
    3. Bassam M. Abu-Abbas, Turki Alhmoud, Fatima A. Algazo, 2019. "Financial leverage and firm performance: evidence from Amman stock exchange," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 16(2), pages 207-237, December.
    4. João Vinícius França Carvalho & Renata Sayuri Furutani Bonetti, 2023. "Longitudinal Effects of Sectoral Concentration on the Brazilian Insurance Market Performance," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 27(Vol. 27 N), pages 210311-2103.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt Markets; Markets and Market Access; Emerging Markets; Microfinance; Insurance&Risk Mitigation;
    All these keywords.

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