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Efficient Monopolies The Limits of Competition in the European Property Insurance Market

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This book is available in Oxford Scholarship Online - view abstracts and keywords at book and chapter level.

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Microeconomics

Economic Systems & Structures

Economic Theory & Thought

Efficient Monopolies

The Limits of Competition in the European Property Insurance Market

Thomas von Ungern-Sternberg

172 pages | 216x138mm

978-0-19-926881-8 | Hardback | 26 February 2004

Price: £80.00

This item is printed to order. Items which are printed to order are normally despatched and charged within 5-10 days.

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Comparative study of the regulatory frameworks and the outcomes for customers of these in each country.
Challenges orthodox thinking about the role of state regulation within markets.
Detailed empirical survey of the property insurance market in Britain, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Germany.

This book presents startling evidence that state monopolies can produce better outcomes than the free market. It provides an empirical comparison of the property insurance market in five European countries: Britain, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Germany. The market and cost structures of insurers in each country are described, and particular features of each market and the outcomes for customers examined. The regulatory frameworks vary widely from country to country and so do the market outcomes, both in terms of premium level and in terms of available insurance cover.

In view of the increase in major floods and other forms of natural damage (such as subsidence) over the last decades, the non-availability of insurance cover in many competitive insurance systems is likely to become a major political issue. This book shows that state monopoly is an adequate policy response. Competitive insurance systems are shown to provide incomplete cover at a substantially higher cost. In mixed systems, where the private sector can obtain reinsurance from the state (such a system is being tried in France) the state tends to end up paying most of the costs (it reinsures most of the bad risks) while the private insurance companies keep most of the premium income.

The book will be of interest to academic economists interested in privatization, regulation, the theory of the firm, and insurance; Policy-makers concerned with regulation and privatization; Insurance companies, regulators, and analysts.

Readership: Academic economists interested in privatization, regulation, the theory of the firm, and insurance; policy-makers concerned with regulation and privatization; and insurance companies, regulators, and analysts.

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

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Efficient Monopolies

The Limits of Competition in the European Property Insurance Market

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