Business Commons^™

The Definition Of Insurance: Implications For A Health Insurance Demand Model, Mark J. Browne

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper uses data from the 1977-78 National Medical Care Expenditures Survey to evaluate five different measures of insurance: a family's expected out-of-pocket payment for medical care, the expected value of the indemnity (fee-for-service) benefits from an insurance policy for a family, the percentage of the expected loss that the insured pays, the policy premium, and the policy limit of coverage. The study provides information that can help us understand whose insurance coverage will change significantly as a result of health care reform. For example, it shows that those with low income (such as minorities, families headed by females, and …

On The Equivalence Of The Loss Ratio And Pure Premium Methods Of Determining Property And Casualty Rating Relativities, Robert L. Brown

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

There are two distinct stages in the property and casualty ratemaking process. First, there is the portfolio average rate change. Second, there is the adjustment of classification relativities. It is well known that the loss ratio and pure premium (also called the loss cost) methods are algebraically equivalent in the stage called the portfolio average rate change. This paper reviews the proof of this equivalence. Further, it is proved algebraically that the loss ratio and pure premium methods are also equivalent in calculating classification relativities (or differentials) if certain data requirements can be met. A short numerical example of this …

The Process Of Pension Forecasting, Michael Sze

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper explains the process of pension forecasting. It discusses the common purposes and uses of pension forecasts, the major steps involved, and the principal limitations of these forecasts. Some insights into each stage of the forecasting process are provided. Among the stages discussed are: the background research to be performed; the selection of scenario assumptions; shortcuts used in the actual performance of the forecast; review of the forecast results; and communication of the forecast findings.

Discussion Of Patrick Butler's "Cost-Based Pricing Of Individual Automobile Risk Transfer: Car-Mile Exposure Unit Analysis", Ruy A. Cardoso

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, Hoque A. Sharif

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

No abstract provided.

A New Approach To Modeling Excess Mortality, Peter D. England, Steven Haberman

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper describes a complete framework for the statistical modeling of excess mortality, with particular reference to the experience of insured, impaired lives. The principal measure of excess mortality considered is the standardized mortality ratio. The modeling approach, based on the theory of generalized linear models, allows us to build models containing several explanatory variables. The statistical significance of these variables can be tested, and the effect of interactions between the variables can be assessed rigorously. The paper uses data drawn from the extensive, continuing investigation into the mortality of insured, impaired lives conducted by the Prudential Assurance Company (UK). …

Group Insurance, Charles Fuhrer

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

No abstract provided.

On Becoming A Cost Effective Company, Robert D. Shapiro, Barton H. Clennon

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

The 1990s financial services environment requires each life company to identify its distinct capabilities and competitive strengths and to build its future direction from these features. This demands a fundamental rethinking of traditional approaches to planning, organization, and financial management.

Cost-Based Pricing Of Individual Automobile Risk Transfer: Car-Mile Exposure Unit Analysis, Patrick Butler

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Every mile traveled by a car transfers risk to its insurer. This paper posits that the product of a cents-per-mile rate based on class experience and the miles recorded on the car's odometer appropriately earns prepaid premium while the car is driven. Operation of a practical car-mile system is described briefly. To test the competing idea that driver-record pricing responds to known large differences in risk transfer, a model used to validate claim free discounts is reexamined with the car-mile as the measure of individual cost. Driver-record pricing is found to inflate car-year price-to-cost differences. Consequences of accident rate variability …

Ethical Issues, Helps, And Challenges: Perceptions Of U.S. Actuaries, Therese M. Vaughan, Robert W. Cooper, Garry L. Frank

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper reports the findings of a survey of Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS) to determine their perceptions of the key ethical issues and dilemmas facing the industry today and the factors they view as most helpful and challenging in resolving these dilemmas. The responses are compared to a previous survey of Fellows of the Society of Actuaries (FSA). The study finds that FSAs and FCASs tend to rank key ethical issues similarly and that both groups of actuaries tend to look first to their own personal values, second to certain factors in their business environment, and last …

Managing The Relative Volumes Of Participating And Nonparticipating Business In A Mutual Life Company, Robert G. Chadburn

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Management decisions of a mutual life company involving the amounts and relative proportions of participating (with profits) and nonparticipating (without profits) business and the level of expenses are examined in relation to their effect on participating policyholders' returns. A particular expense ratio is defined that plays a key role in a framework for making such decisions. The sensitivity of participating policy returns to changes in each factor are analyzed. Companies with expense ratios (as defined) of less than 2 are shown to prefer a different strategy from companies with higher ratios. There is an incomplete tendency for the ratio to …

Life Insurance Applications Of Recursive Formulas, Timothy L. Giles

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper discusses several practical applications of recursive formulas:

a) Traditional whole life-As an introduction, the well-known relationship between successive terminal reserves is reviewed. Recursive formulas are developed to calculate the reserves and the premiums;

b) Universal life-Recursive formulas are used both for the calculation of target premiums and reserves. Consideration is given to the TEFRA corridor;

c) Paid-up rider-A participating single premium rider that provides a level death benefit can be devised using an inherent one year term benefit. Recursive functions are used to determine the premium that precisely matures the rider.

Because the APL programming language is particularly …

1993 Agricultural Outlook & Nebraska Policy Issues, University Of Nebraska Agricultural Economics Department

Department of Agricultural Economics: News, Announcements, and Information

Introduction by Sam Cordes

The Development of the U.S. Economy – Wesley F. Peterson

North America Free Trade Agreement – Roy Frederick

The Significance of Free Trade Agreements in an Era of Declining Import Duties – Robert McGeorge

Implications of Foreign Agricultural Assistance for Nebraska Agriculture – Dale Anderson

Ag Finance and Credit Outlook – Larry Bitney

Projecting Production Costs for 1993 – Doug Jose

1993 Custom Rates Outlook – Ray Massey

U.S. Tractor Sales Demand – Dennis Conley

Wheat Outlook in 1993 – Lynn Lute

Outlook for Soybeans in 1993 – Lynn Lute

Corn Outlook in 1993 – Lynn …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 1, No.1, 1993, Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

ARTICLES

Global Social Security: How the Rules are Changing in Certain Countries • Robert J. Myers

On Becoming a Cost Effective Company • Robert D. Shapiro and Barton H. Clennon

The Process of Pension Forecasting • Michael Sze

Cost-Based Pricing of Individual Automobile Risk Transfer: Car-Mile Exposure Unit Analysis • Patrick Butler

Discussion • Ruy A. Cardoso & Richard G. WolI & Patrick Butler's Reply

A New Approach to Modeling Excess Mortality • Peter D. England and Steven Haberman

The Small Plan Audit Program: The Opinions of the Court • Arnold F. Shapiro

BOOK REVIEWS

A. Hoque Sharif reviews "Options …

Managing Russian Factory Workers: The Impact Of U.S.-Based Behavioral And Participative Techniques, Dianne H.B. Welsh, Fred Luthans, Steven M. Sommer

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The new internationalization of the field of management has produced growing concern as to whether theories and techniques largely developed in the United States apply to other cultures. A within-subjects experimental design was used to analyze the impacts that three popular and successful techniques used in U.S. studies had on the performance of workers in the largest textile factory in the Russian republic of the former Soviet Union. Two techniques, providing extrinsic rewards and behavioral management, had significant,

Packer Integration Into Hog Production: Current Status And Likely Impacts Of Increased Vertical Control On Hog Prices And Quantities, Azzeddine M. Azzam, Allen C. Wellman

Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station: Historical Research Bulletins

In a survey conducted three years ago by the staff of Pork '88, it was found that some of the major players in the pork industry, like Smithfield foods, for example, have either integrated into hog production or have all the requirements for vertical integration in place. The move toward internalizing the exchange process in the hog/pork sector through vertical integration has raised several questions ranging from its impact on prices and quantities to its impact on individual hog producers. This report is a first step toward studying these issues. Its specific objectives are a) to provide some insights into …

Caste, Class, And Social Change: An Institutionalist Perspective, Ann Mari May

College of Business: Faculty Publications

When Gunnar Myrdal visited the United States in 1929, he was struck by the extremes of poverty and wealth that existed at the onset of the Great Depression and perplexed by the seeming lack of "class struggle" or "class consciousness" [Jackson 1990,63- 651. Addressing an audience in Geneva, Myrdal later remarked that "patriotic conservatism, capitalist Americanism, spiced with hate and contempt for 'European' subversive dogmas, are not only Main Street's petit bourgeois froth and triumph, but also the slum's compensation for a sad and wretched daily life" 11931, 205- 61. In this speech, Myrdal identified the almost "religious nature" with …

Overlap Of Organizations: Corporate Transorganization And Veblen's Thesis On Higher Education, F. Gregory Hayden

College of Business: Faculty Publications

This article is built upon the legacy from three of Thorstein Veblen's theories. The first may be best summarized by Martin Gellen who wrote:
Veblen was the first economist to recognize that management was an important factor of production in modem business enterprise, and nowhere was this more evident than in the rise of the large corporation. ... These new enterprises took over from the market the coordination and integration of the flow of goods and services all the way from the production of the raw materials through the several processes of production to the sale of the ultimate consumer. …

1992 Agriculture Outlook And Policy Issues, Agricultural Economics Department, Lynn Lutgen

Department of Agricultural Economics: News, Announcements, and Information

INTRODUCTION. Sam Cordes (2)

GENERAL OUTLOOK

Outlook for the General Economy. A. L. (Roy) Frederick (3)

Free Trade with Mexico: A Plus for Nebraska Agriculture? Nancy H. Cottrell & E. Wesley Peterson (4)

Ag Finance & Credit Outlook. Larry L. Bitney (5)

AGRICULTURAL INPUTS AND PROCEDURES

Outlook for Input Costs for 1992. H. Doug Jose (6)

A New Look in Farm Financial Statements? Larry L. Bitney (7)

COMMODITY OUTLOOK

Outlook for Corn in 1992. Lynn H. Lutgen (8)

Outlook for Wheat in 1992. Lynn H. Lutgen (9)

Outlook for Soybeans in 1992. Lynn H. Lutgen (10)

Establishing a Marketing Outlook …

Examining The Link Between Leader-Member Exchange And Subordinate Performance: The Role Of Task Analyzability And Variety As Moderators, Kenneth J. Dunegan, Dennis Duchon, Mary Uhl-Bien

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Results from a field study with 152 members of a large urban hospital indicate that the relationship between the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) and subordinate performance is moderated by perceptions of task analyzability and variety: LMX and performance are found to be significantly related when task challenge is either very high or very low. Under these task conditions, data indicate that there is a positive link between LMX and performance such that a higher quality leader-member exchange correlates with higher levels of performance. On the other hand, analyses also reveal that when tasks are perceived to be moderately challenging, …

Self-Management And Team-Making In Cross-Functional Work Teams: Discovering The Keys To Becoming An Integrated Team, Mary Uhl-Bien, George B. Graen

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Project teams are rapidly becoming the primary mechanisms for innovation and change in modern organizations. As such, they are designed to capitalize on leadership and integrated cross-functional teamwork and to negate subordination and individual gamesmanship. Unfortunately, research on cross-functional project teams is scarce and largely atheoretical. The increasing use of these project teams by modern organizations, however, calls for theory development in this area. In the present paper, self-management and team-making models are applied to cross-functional project designs to develop a theoretical framework for the investigation of teamwork effectiveness for integrated cross-functional project teams. Future issues for theory development and …

Perceptions Of An Innovative Climate: Examining The Role Of Divisional Affiliation, Work Group Interaction, And Leader/Subordinate Exchange, Kenneth Dunegan, Pamela S. Tierney, Dennis Duchon

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Results from a cross-sectional field study with 198 members of an international chemical company suggest that divisional affiliation, work group interactions (WGX), and the quality of exchange between leader and subordinate (LMX) significantly predict employee perceptions of climate factors believed to foster innovative activities. Tests also indicate that LMX remains a significant predictor of five of the six climate variables measured, even after controlling for divisional affiliation and the quality of work group exchanges (WGX). Further, analyses reveal that the interaction between WGX and LMX accounts for significant and unique variance on all six of the climate factors studied in …

Book Review: Gunnar Myrdal And America's Conscience: Social Engineering And Racial Liberalism, 1938-1987. By Walter A. Jackson, Ann Mari May

College of Business: Faculty Publications

Walter A. Jackson's Gunnar Myrdal and America's Conscience is more than a biographical sketch of a unique political economist. It is a fine piece of intellectual history that institutionalists, in particular, will appreciate. Jackson gracefully examines the development of Myrdal's thought as a political economist and its influence on his study of race relations, paying mindful attention to the historical context and personal influences shaping Myrdal's work. As a result of Jackson's research, we understand more fully not only the influence of Myrdal's approach as a political economist on his study of race relations, but the way Myrdal impacted the …

An Agenda For Research On Economic Education In Colleges And Universities, William Becker, Robert Highsmith, Peter Kennedy, William Walstad

College of Business: Faculty Publications

The quantity of research on economic education at the college and university level declined during the past decade. In the 1980-90 period, the number of research- related articles on economics instruction in higher education fell by about 17 percent from the number published during the 1969-79 period. A possible reason for this reduction may have been the publication of a review of research on economic education at the college and university level by John Siegfried and Rendigs Fels (1979). This extensive survey may have inadvertently led researchers to believe that most of the major topics at this level had been …

Class Conflict, Corporate Power, And Macroeconomic Policy: The Impact Of Inflation In The Postwar Period, Ann Mari May, Randy R. Grant

College of Business: Faculty Publications

When Richard Nixon ran for the presidency in 1968, he declared that inflation was America's number one problem. While opinion polls showed otherwise, an undaunted Nixon set about to reduce inflation and to convince the public of the dangers of rising prices. To help in this effort, the Council of Economic Advisors initiated a study to identify those impacted adversely by inflation. The study, however, was disappointing. According to Herbert Stein, “If anyone was being severely hurt, the available statistics were too crude to reveal it.”

Nixon was not the first, nor was he the last president to warn of …

Leadership-Making Applies Equally Well To Sponsors, Competence Networks, And Teammates, George Graen, Mary Uhl-Bien

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Teams are rapidly becoming the management technique of choice in American industry (Fortune, 1990). Spurred on by the pervasive and often dramatic success of Japanese management in America at places like NUMMI in Freemont, California, Honda, in Marysville, Ohio, NISSAN in Smyrna, Tennessee, MAZAK, in Florence, Kentucky, DENSO in Battle Creek, Michigan, and J.V.C. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, team organizations are being implemented in large (General Electric and General Motors) and small American companies. Our study of Japanese transplants in the U.S. (Graen & Wakabayashi, 1990) suggests that several hybrid versions of Japanese team organizations work most effectively with American employees. …

The Effects Of Airline Strikes On Struck And Nonstruck Carriers, Richard Defusco, Scott M. Fuess Jr.

Department of Finance: Faculty Publications

This study provides new evidence on the industry-wide impact of strikes by investigating how strikes have affected the values of struck and nonstruck airlines. Using stock market data for the years 1963-86, the authors show that most strikes adversely affected the value of struck airlines' stock but enhanced the stock value of nonstruck carriers. The results also show that strikes before October 1978, which marked the end of strict regulation of the industry and of the employers' mutual aid pact, had some effects different from those of strikes after that date.

The Transformation Of Professionals Into Self-Managing And Partially Self-Designing Contributors: Toward A Theory Of Leadership-Making, George B. Graen, Mary Uhl-Bien

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Self-managing teams are rapidly approaching the popularity of Quality Circles in both the popular and organizational literature. However, before this promising notion becomes the next panacea for the ills of our declining international competitiveness, we must investigate the fundamental question of how superior managed professionals become transformed into self-managers. This paper presents a model of a leadership-making process which purports to produce the transformation of superior manager professionals into self-managing and partially self-designing units. The focus of this paper is on the upper end of the self- managing category of Hackman’s (1986) authority matrix. A life cycle model of leadership-making …

Company Paternalism And The Hidden-Investment Process: Identification Of The “Right Type” For Line Managers In Leading Japanese Organizations, Mary Uhl-Bien, Pamela S. Tierney, George B. Graen, Mitsuru Wakabayashi

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

This study investigates belief in company paternalism as an indicator of the “right type” for line managers in leading Japanese corporations. In five companies, 1,075 line managers were surveyed about their belief in company paternalism, their experience with both the formal and informal career-development systems within their company, their working relationships with their immediate superior (LMX), and their overall job satisfaction. Results indicated that belief in company paternalism contributed as hypothesized to formal career investments, informal career investments (including both self-investment and supervisor investment), LMX, and overall job satisfaction. These relationships held true both before and after experiences with the …

Review Of Eisenhower Versus `The Spenders': The Eisenhower Administration, The Democrats And The Budget, 1953-60 By Iwan W. Morgan, Ann Mari May

College of Business: Faculty Publications

The 1950s have often been characterized as a period outstanding only for its banality, when the head of state "preferred golf to government" (p. I). Historians have reconstructed Dwight Eisenhower's leadership style but have given scant attention to the evolution of economic policy during the 1950s and to his role in fiscal policy formation. Iwan Morgan's Eisenhon,er Versus ‘The Spenders’ goes far in filling this void and provides an insightful, interesting discussion of fiscal policy formation during the Eisenhower years.

For many economic historians, the 1950s seems to have been a nonevent sandwiched between the New Deal-Fair Deal and the …