The Efficiency of the European Non-Life Insurance: CEO Power, Macroeconomic, and Market Characteristics Impact

• Main Authors: Walid Bahloul, Abdelfettah Bouri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-03-01
• Series: International Journal of Financial Studies
• Subjects: insurance; efficiency; CEO power; market structure; domestic economy
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/4/1/4

A numbers of studies focusing on the determinant of the insurance market efficiency have increased in the last decade. In fact, many factors, like the CEO’s power, can influence the efficiency in the insurance firm. The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between efficiency, measured by the cost function using the stochastic frontier approach (SFA) methodologies, and the market structure, as well as the macroeconomic variables. In addition, it focuses on identifying the impact of the integration of the CEO power variable in the cost function on this relation. The result shows that after the consideration of the CEO power score in the cost efficiency, the relation between insurance efficiency and the determinant of market development, as well as the domestic economy, has changed and become more significant. The result also shows that the firms become more efficient and more profitable with a higher concentration ratio and this is in accordance with the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) theory.