Publication: Determinants of Life Insurance Consumption across Countries
Date
2002-02
ISSN
Published
2002-02
Author(s)
Abstract
The importance of life insurance
companies as part of the financial sector has significantly
increased over the past decades, both as provider of
important financial services to consumers and as a major
investor in the capital market. However, the authors still
observe a large variance in life insurance consumption
across countries, which raises the question of its
determinants. The authors use a greatly expanded data set on
life insurance consumption to examine the determinants of
the demand and supply of life insurance products across
countries and over time. Using a cross-sectional sample of
63 countries averaged over 1980-96, the authors find that
educational attainment, banking sector development, and
inflation are the most robust predictors of life insurance
consumption, while income is only a weak predictor. The
results on educational attainment and inflation are
confirmed in a panel of 23 countries over the period
1960-96. The results strengthen the case for promoting price
stability, financial sector reform, and an efficient
education system if life insurance and its many benefits are
to be fully realized in an economy.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Beck, Thorsten; Webb, Ian. 2002. Determinants of Life Insurance Consumption across Countries. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2792. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15614 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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