The Role of Micro Insurance on Poverty Reduction: A Study of Insurance Companies in Ghana (Published)
Purpose- The purpose of this paper to investigate, explore and assess the role of Micro-insurance in poverty reduction Design/ methodology/approach- This paper is a qualitative analysis based on three case studies. Non-probability sampling techniques are used for choosing the unit of analysis which resulted in 4 firms (4 managers). Also, data were collected via a questionnaire and an in-depth interview. Findings- The study identified that Micro-insurance provides financial support to the poor in the event of a disaster, social protection against disasters and shocks, savings, employment, and as well as enhances asset accumulation among clients. The study found that the lack of innovative micro-insurance product, inadequate distribution channels, the lack of supportive micro-insurance legal framework, uncompetitive pricing of micro-insurance products, low government support in micro-insurance programs, low-income levels of respondents, the religious or cultural factors influence the demand of insurance products and low public trust are the factors that affect the demand of micro-insurance products. Also, the study found that the development of innovative products, establishing processes that build trust in clients, instituting efficient service delivery channels, documentation should be simplified and the government should support micro-insurance products are the ways to increase patronage of micro-insurance products.Research limitations- the sample size is still limited and in the future, a quantitative analysis should be used. The study is limited in terms of geographical area. The findings of the study are more likely to hold for another Sub-Saharan context. However, the applicability of these findings to other contexts needs further investigation. Originality/value- while interest in micro-insurance is increasing in emerging markets, there is little known and written on micro-insurance. Therefore, the role of micro-insurance has not been explored so far.
Keywords: Constraints, Ghana, Insurance, Microcredit, Poverty Alleviation, microinsurance, sub-Saharan Africa
TECHNICAL, PURE TECHNICAL AND SCALE EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF INSURANCE COMPANIES OF PAKISTAN (Published)
We examine the technical, pure technical, scale and mix efficiencies for a sample of 25 general insurance companies of Pakistan over a period of 2002-2007, using CCR and BCC models of nonparametric frontier approach, data envelopment analysis (DEA). The objective is to provide new insights in value-based technical efficiency of Pakistani general insurance companies. The results show that most of the insurance companies are technical, scale and mix inefficient and the major cause of this inefficiency is excess in labor and shortfall in claims-settled amount.
Keywords: Insurance, Pure technical, Scale efficiency, Technical
Insurance and Economic Growth (Review Completed - Accepted)
The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between the insurance business and the economic growth of 23 OECD countries over the period 1990-2011, using a static panel data model. The key findings emerged from the empirical analysis show a positive impact of non-life insurance, as measured by the penetration rate on economic growth and a negative effect exerted by the total insurance and non-life insurance, as measured by the density on economic growth.
Keywords: Insurance, Static Panel Data Model, economic growth