710 research outputs found
La gestione del rischio di tasso di interesse negli intermediari finanziari. Un focus sulle compagnie di assicurazione
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The nature and determinants of disclosure practices in the insurance industry: Evidence from European insurers
No full textFilling a gap in the existing literature on disclosure practices by insurance companies, this research provides new empirical evidence on the nature and determinants of disclosure practices in the European insurance industry over the 2005-2010 period. The main results show that insurers are more inclined to invest in the quantity of risk information rather than in the disclosure quality of the entire annual report, as risk information is addressed to high-level financially educated people and requires fewer resources than are needed for an investment in quality. Further, the analysis also shows that insurer level characteristics, in terms of size and technical provisions, as well as country level variables, significantly affect the amount of risk information disclosed. In the years affected by the financial crisis, the level of risk disclosure quantity increases as insurers use disclosure as a tool to reassure stakeholders on their independence from the global financial crisis
Capital Requirements, Disclosure, and Supervision in the European Insurance Industry. New Challenges towards Solvency II
No full textThe effectiveness of risk disclosure practices in the European insurance industry
No full textPurpose – This paper aims to examine whether risk disclosure practices affect stock return volatility and company value in the European insurance industry. Design/methodology/approach – Using a self-constructed “risk disclosure index for insurers” (RDII) to measure the extent of information disclosed on risks and using panel data regression on a sample of European insurers for 2005-2010, it tests the relationship between RDII and stock return volatility; whether this relationship is affected by financial crisis; and whether RDII affects insurance companies’ embedded value. Findings – The main results indicate that higher RDII contributes to higher volatility, suggesting that “less is more” rather than “more is good”. However, higher RDII leads to lower volatility when the insurer has a positive net income, thus “more is good when all is good” and “less is good when all is bad”. Furthermore, the relationship between RDII and stock return volatility is not affected by financial crisis, raising concerns regarding the effectiveness of insurers’ risk disclosure to reassure the market. Moreover, higher RDII is found to impact positively on embedded value, thus contributing toward higher firm value. Practical implications – The findings could drive insurers’ choices on communication and transparency, alongside regulators’ decisions about market discipline. They also suggest that risk disclosure could be used to strengthen market discipline and should be added to the other variables traditionally used in stock return volatility and firm value estimation models in the insurance industry. Originality/value – This paper offers new insights in the debate on the bright and dark sides of risk disclosure in the insurance industry and provides interesting implications for insurers and their stakeholders
Disclosure: determinanti e criticità per il settore assicurativo europeo
No full textThis research investigates disclosure practices of European insurers over the 2006-2010 time horizon. First, it constructs a disclosure index based on the information companies provide in their annual reports. Then, it estimates the relationship between the extent of disclosure and some insurers’ characteristics. This study reports some interesting results: the level of disclosure has increased over time close to Solvency II; bigger insurers, insurers located in northern Europe and with higher amounts of written premiums disclose more, whereas a higher weight of reserves is associated with less disclosure. Governance variables are introduced but are not significan
Irma-Sponge proposal
No full textAfter the flooding events in the recent years in the Rhine and Meuse basin and the subsequently developed action plans, awareness has grown that the issue of flood risk management has to be considered in an integrated, transnational context where hydraulic, ecological and socio-economic functions of the river system are taken into account from the perspective of long term sustainable, resilient river basin development: living with the floods. The Umbrella project IRMA-SPONGE is a cluster of innovative, transnational, mutually consistent and complementary projects on flood risk and vulnerability assessment. The deliverables of these projects will be made operational in water management and in the spatial planning process.Irma-Spong
Proceedings of the IRMA SPONGE Final Working Conference
No full textMany important developments are currently taking place in the area of flood risk management in Europe. The IRMA-SPONGE Umbrella Program aims to contribute to these developments by co-ordinating and integrating 13 research projects, dealing with many aspects of flood risk management along the rivers Rhine and Meuse, in such a way that the output is maximised and shared. Over 30 organisations (both scientific and flood-management oriented) in all 6 Rhine / Meuse countries work together in IRMA-SPONGE, which thus also contributes to an improved cohesion in European flood risk management efforts in the future.Irma-Spong
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