Webb, IanBeck, Thorsten2014-02-262014-02-262003-01World Bank Economic Reviewhttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/17169Life 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.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITYADMINISTRATIVE COSTSAGENTSAMOUNT OF RISKANNUITIESANNUITYBANKING SECTORBANKING SECTOR DEVELOPMENTBANKING SYSTEMBANKING SYSTEMSBENEFICIARIESBEQUESTBRITISH LEGAL ORIGINBUREAUCRATIC QUALITYBUSINESS CYCLECAPITAL MARKETCAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENTCAPITAL MARKETSCONSUMER DEMANDCONSUMER PRICE INDEXCONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCONTRACTUAL SAVINGSCOUNTRY RISKCOVERAGEDEGREE OF RISKDEMOGRAPHICDEPOSITDEPOSIT MONEY BANKSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING ECONOMIESDEVELOPING ECONOMYDISCOUNT RATEDISINTERMEDIATIONDISPOSABLE INCOMEDIVIDENDDIVIDENDSDOMESTIC MARKETDUMMY VARIABLEDUMMY VARIABLESECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTSEXCHANGE RATEEXCHANGE RATE REGIMESEXCHANGE RATESEXPENDITURESFACE AMOUNTSFACE VALUEFINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIESFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL PRODUCTSFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENTFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SERVICES FOR CONSUMERSFINANCIAL SYSTEMFIXED INTERESTFIXED INTEREST RATESFRAUDGOVERNANCE INDICATORSGOVERNMENT SUBSIDIESGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME ELASTICITYINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME LEVELINFLATIONINFLATION EXPECTATIONSINFLATION RATEINFLATION RATESINFLATION VOLATILITYINFORMAL INSURANCEINSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTINSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTINSURANCE ACTIVITYINSURANCE COVERAGEINSURANCE GROWTHINSURANCE INDUSTRYINSURANCE MARKETINSURANCE MARKETSINSURANCE PENETRATIONINSURANCE PREMIUMINSURANCE PREMIUM RATESINSURANCE PRODUCTINSURERINSURERSINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL STATISTICSINTERNATIONAL INSURANCEINVESTMENT CHOICESINVESTMENT FUNCTIONINVESTMENT FUNCTIONSINVESTMENT FUNDSINVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIESISLAMIC SCHOLARSLACK OF COMPETITIONLEGAL SYSTEMLIABILITYLIABILITY INSURANCELIFE EXPECTANCIESLIFE EXPECTANCYLIFE INSURANCELIFE INSURANCE COMPANIESLIFE INSURANCE CONTRACTSLIFE INSURANCE POLICIESLIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMSLIFE INSURANCE PRODUCTLIFE INSURANCE PRODUCTSLIFE INSURERSLOANLOCAL CURRENCYLONG-TERM FINANCEMACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMACROECONOMICSMARKET STRUCTUREMONETARY FUNDMONETARY STABILITYNOMINAL INTEREST RATEOPTIMAL INVESTMENTOVERHEAD COSTSPAYMENT SERVICESPAYMENT SYSTEMPOLICYHOLDERSPOLITICAL RISKPOLITICAL STABILITYPORTFOLIOPOSITIVE COEFFICIENTPOWER PARITYPRESENT VALUEPRICE STABILITYPRIVATE INSURANCEPRIVATE SAVINGSPROFITABILITYPROPERTY RIGHTSPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPURCHASING POWERREAL INTERESTREAL INTEREST RATEREINSURANCEREINVESTMENTRESERVERESERVE REQUIREMENTSRESERVESRETIREMENTRETIREMENT SAVINGSRETURNRETURNSRISK AVERSIONRISK MANAGEMENTRULE OF LAWSAVINGS INSTRUMENTSAVINGS INSTRUMENTSSAVINGS PORTFOLIOSSAVINGS RATESOCIAL SECURITYSTOCK MARKETSTOCK MARKET DEVELOPMENTTAXATIONUNDERWRITINGURBANIZATIONWORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORSJournal ArticleWorld Bank10.1596/17169