Economic, Demographic, and Institutional Determinants of Life Insurance Consumption across countries

Life insurance has become an increasingly important part of the financial sector over the past 40 years, providing a range of financial services for consumers and becoming a major source of investment in the capital market. But what drives the large variation in life insurance consumption across countries remains unclear. Using a panel with data aggregated at different frequencies for 68 economies in 1961-2000, this article finds that economic indicators such as inflation, income per capita, and banking sector development and religious and institutional indicators are the most robust predictors of the use of life insurance. Education, life expectancy, the young dependency ratio, and the size of the social security system appear to have no robust association with life insurance consumption. The results highlight the importance of price stability and banking sector development in fully realizing the savings and investment functions of life insurance in an economy.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Webb, Ian, Beck, Thorsten
Format:	Journal Article biblioteca
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2003-01
Subjects:	ACCOUNTABILITY, ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS, AGENTS, AMOUNT OF RISK, ANNUITIES, ANNUITY, BANKING SECTOR, BANKING SECTOR DEVELOPMENT, BANKING SYSTEM, BANKING SYSTEMS, BENEFICIARIES, BEQUEST, BRITISH LEGAL ORIGIN, BUREAUCRATIC QUALITY, BUSINESS CYCLE, CAPITAL MARKET, CAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT, CAPITAL MARKETS, CONSUMER DEMAND, CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT, CONTRACTUAL SAVINGS, COUNTRY RISK, COVERAGE, DEGREE OF RISK, DEMOGRAPHIC, DEPOSIT, DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING ECONOMIES, DEVELOPING ECONOMY, DISCOUNT RATE, DISINTERMEDIATION, DISPOSABLE INCOME, DIVIDEND, DIVIDENDS, DOMESTIC MARKET, DUMMY VARIABLE, DUMMY VARIABLES, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTS, EXCHANGE RATE, EXCHANGE RATE REGIMES, EXCHANGE RATES, EXPENDITURES, FACE AMOUNTS, FACE VALUE, FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FINANCIAL PRODUCTS, FINANCIAL SECTOR, FINANCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENT, FINANCIAL SERVICES, FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR CONSUMERS, FINANCIAL SYSTEM, FIXED INTEREST, FIXED INTEREST RATES, FRAUD, GOVERNANCE INDICATORS, GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INCOME, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME ELASTICITY, INCOME INEQUALITY, INCOME LEVEL, INFLATION, INFLATION EXPECTATIONS, INFLATION RATE, INFLATION RATES, INFLATION VOLATILITY, INFORMAL INSURANCE, INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT, INSURANCE ACTIVITY, INSURANCE COVERAGE, INSURANCE GROWTH, INSURANCE INDUSTRY, INSURANCE MARKET, INSURANCE MARKETS, INSURANCE PENETRATION, INSURANCE PREMIUM, INSURANCE PREMIUM RATES, INSURANCE PRODUCT, INSURER, INSURERS, INTEREST RATES, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL STATISTICS, INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE, INVESTMENT CHOICES, INVESTMENT FUNCTION, INVESTMENT FUNCTIONS, INVESTMENT FUNDS, INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES, ISLAMIC SCHOLARS, LACK OF COMPETITION, LEGAL SYSTEM, LIABILITY, LIABILITY INSURANCE, LIFE EXPECTANCIES, LIFE EXPECTANCY, LIFE INSURANCE, LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES, LIFE INSURANCE CONTRACTS, LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES, LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS, LIFE INSURANCE PRODUCT, LIFE INSURANCE PRODUCTS, LIFE INSURERS, LOAN, LOCAL CURRENCY, LONG-TERM FINANCE, MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, MACROECONOMIC STABILITY, MACROECONOMICS, MARKET STRUCTURE, MONETARY FUND, MONETARY STABILITY, NOMINAL INTEREST RATE, OPTIMAL INVESTMENT, OVERHEAD COSTS, PAYMENT SERVICES, PAYMENT SYSTEM, POLICYHOLDERS, POLITICAL RISK, POLITICAL STABILITY, PORTFOLIO, POSITIVE COEFFICIENT, POWER PARITY, PRESENT VALUE, PRICE STABILITY, PRIVATE INSURANCE, PRIVATE SAVINGS, PROFITABILITY, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, PURCHASING POWER, REAL INTEREST, REAL INTEREST RATE, REINSURANCE, REINVESTMENT, RESERVE, RESERVE REQUIREMENTS, RESERVES, RETIREMENT, RETIREMENT SAVINGS, RETURN, RETURNS, RISK AVERSION, RISK MANAGEMENT, RULE OF LAW, SAVINGS INSTRUMENT, SAVINGS INSTRUMENTS, SAVINGS PORTFOLIOS, SAVINGS RATE, SOCIAL SECURITY, STOCK MARKET, STOCK MARKET DEVELOPMENT, TAXATION, UNDERWRITING, URBANIZATION, WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/01/17741877/economic-demographic-institutional-determinants-life-insurance-consumption-across-countries https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17169
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