scholarly journals The impact of company-specific and external factors on corporate risk taking: The case of Egyptian insurance companies

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-225
Author(s):  
Mohamed Sherif ◽  
Mahmoud Elsayed
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Stock Prices ◽  
Risk Measures ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Method Of Moment ◽  
Life Insurers ◽  
Systematic Risks ◽  
Corporate Risk ◽  
The Impact

Using a two-way panel regression analysis with fixed and random effects and the generalized method of moment(GMM), we investigate the impact of both firm-specific and external factors on the risk taking of Egyptian insurance companies. We use hand-collected data of Egyptian insurance companies over the period from 2006 to 2011 to estimate the relationship between total and systematic risks as risk measures and the independent variables. Following Eling and Mark (2011) the extent of risk taking is quantified through variations in stock prices and these are explained by firm-specific and external factors. We find that differences in company size, interest rate level and economic development affect variations in stock prices. The analysis also highlights differences between the life and non-life insurers, with the non-life insurers exhibiting a higher level of risk (market and premium) and board independence. The pattern of results are qualitatively the same for non-life insurers but different for life insurers when we use GMM method.

Corporate risk taking and sustainability: a case of listed firms from USA and Germany

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahid Irhsad Younas ◽  
Ameena Zafar
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Board Structure ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Corporate Risk ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the impact of corporate risk taking on the sustainability of firms in USA and Germany. As risk taking is an expensive phenomenon, the firm may shift the resources from stakeholder well-being to profit maximization of shareholders. Ultimately, risk taking results in the reduction of firm’s sustainability.Design/methodology/approachTo capture the impact of corporate risk taking, the corporate-governance variables, i.e. “independent board structure” and “board size,” were used as instrumental variables to control excessive corporate risk taking and restrict it at a healthy level. A sample of 3,387 unbalanced panel observations from USA and Germany, for the period 2004-2015, were assessed.FindingsThe results confirm that corporate risk taking has a negative and significant impact on the sustainability of firms.Research limitations/implicationsGovernment and policymakers in USA and Germany may introduce regulations to curb excessive corporate risk taking for sustainable corporations and sustainable society. This research suggests that corporate risk taking is not in the best interest of stakeholders.Originality/valuePrevious literature only finds the impact of sustainability on corporate risk taking and there is not a single study that examines the impact of corporate risk taking on the sustainability of a firm. Thus, this study contributes to existing literature on corporate risk taking and sustainability. The study further contributes by using the instrumental variable two stage least square.

Intellectual capital and profitability in an emerging insurance market

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Asare ◽  
Abdul Latif Alhassan ◽  
Michael Effah Asamoah ◽  
Matthew Ntow-Gyamfi
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Insurance Market ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Life Insurers ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and profitability of insurance companies in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Data on 36 life and non-life insurance companies from 2007 to 2011 are employed to estimate the value added intellectual coefficient of Pulic (2004, 2008). Using return on assets and underwriting profit as indicators of profitability, the ordinary least squares panel corrected standard errors of Beck and Katz (2005) is used in estimating the relationship in the presence of serial correlation and heteroskedasticity. Leverage, underwriting risk and insurers’ size are used as control variables. Findings Non-life insurers have high IC performance comparative to life insurers. This study finds a significant positive relationship between IC and profitability of insurers in Ghana while human capital efficiency is the main driver of insurers’ IC performance. Practical implications The study discusses relevance of IC for management of insurance companies in Ghana and other emerging insurance markets in Africa. Originality/value This appears to be the first study to examine the impact of IC on profitability of a developing insurance market in Africa.

scholarly journals Solvency Regulation—An Assessment of Basel III for Banks and of Planned Solvency III for Insurers

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 258
Author(s):  
Peter Zweifel
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Capital Market ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Capital Requirements ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Basel Iii ◽  
Solvency Regulation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Capital Market

Basel III, regulating the solvency of banks, is to be fully implemented by 2027 while Solvency III directed at insurers is being prepared. In view of past experience, it will be closely modelled after Basel III. This raises two questions. (i) Will Basel III and Solvency III be more successful than their predecessors? (ii) Is it appropriate to continue regulating the solvency of banks and insurers in the same way? The first question is motivated by an earlier finding that Basel I and II risked inducing more rather than less risk-taking by banks, which also holds for Solvency I and II w.r.t. insurers. The methodology applied was to determine the slope of an endogenous perceived efficiency frontier (EPEF) in (μ^,σ^)-space derived from banks’ and insurers’ optimal adjustment to exogenous changes, in expected returns dμ¯ and volatility dσ¯ on the capital market. Both Basel I and II and Solvency I and II neglected the impact of these developments on banks’ and insurers’ EPEF. This neglect had the effect of steepening the EPEF, causing senior management to opt for an increased rather than reduced value of σ^, and hence a lower solvency level. This issue is resolved by Basel III (Principle 5), which requires banks to take developments in the capital market into account in the formulation of their business strategies designed to ensure solvency. In combination with increased capital requirements, this is shown to result in a reduced slope of their EPEF and hence a reduced risk exposure. However, planned Solvency III may cause the EPEF of highly capitalized insurance companies to become steeper, with a concomitant decrease in their risk-taking and an increase of their solvency level. The second question, concerning the appropriateness of the uniformity of solvency regulation directed at banks and insurers, arises because the parameters determining the slope of the respective EPEF are found to crucially differ. Therefore, the uniformity of Basel and Solvency norms creates the risk of a mistaken regulatory focus.

scholarly journals Assessment of the influence of external factors on the private medical sector development in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-19
Author(s):  
Аnzhela Bairak
Keyword(s):  
External Factors ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Medical Sector ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Expert Assessments ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Near Future

The article investigates the influence of external factors on the private medical sector development in Ukraine in modern conditions and formulates proposals to reduce their negative effect. In the process of research, the following general scientific methods were used: structuring, comparative analysis, grouping, expert assessments, statistical. It is substantiated that external factors of influence on the private medical sector can have a direct and indirect, stabilizing and destabilizing character. The influence of each identified factors is analyzed by grouping and highlighting the list of factor conditions that determine the success and limited development of the private medical sector. The conclusions substantiate further ways of developing the private medical sector in Ukraine, taking into account the assessment of the impact of external factors, which are, firstly, in the implementation of investment projects to modernize medical equipment for treatment and diagnostics, and secondly, in establishing business contacts with insurance companies and the state, thirdly, in the implementation of effective information systems. A method for assessing the influence of external factors on the development of the private medical sector is proposed, which is based on the use of a square matrix of contiguity and allows to calculate the relative importance of each factor, both stabilizing and destabilizing actions, which made it possible to identify priority factors in each direction, and form the basis for developing recommendations for increasing the potential of the health care system of Ukraine through the activation of the private medical sector. It is proved that the strategy for the private medical sector development in the near future should be aimed at expanding market share for the middle-class population.

Accounting Performance Goals in CEO Compensation Contracts and Corporate Risk Taking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Xiaoling Chen ◽  
Minjeong (MJ) Kim ◽  
Laura Yue Li ◽  
Wei Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Ceo Compensation ◽  
Performance Goals ◽  
Target Setting ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Compensation Contracts ◽  
Accounting Performance ◽  
Corporate Risk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
D Investment

This study provides the first large-sample archival evidence on the impact of three commonly used accounting performance goals (thresholds, targets, and maximums) in CEO compensation contracts on corporate risk taking. Using proxy statement disclosure on performance goals for CEOs of U.S. public companies, we find that lower thresholds and higher maximums are associated with greater corporate risk taking, and these results are more pronounced when CEOs have greater incentives to achieve accounting performance goals or have lower innate risk aversion. In addition, we find that target difficulty is not significantly associated with corporate risk taking after controlling for thresholds and maximums. Finally, we find that CEO compensation contracts are more likely to have lower thresholds and higher maximums when risk taking is more value-enhancing or when R&D investment is more profitable, consistent with boards setting performance goals to induce an appropriate amount of corporate risk taking. Our study contributes to the accounting literature on target setting and corporate risk taking by identifying accounting performance goals as a tool in executive compensation contract design to influence risk taking. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.

scholarly journals Corporate ownership structure and risk-taking: evidence from Japan

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
SunEae Chun ◽  
MinHwan Lee
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Risk Level ◽  
Managerial Ownership ◽  
Firm Risk ◽  
Concentrated Ownership ◽  
Corporate Risk

We examine the relationship between ownership structure and corporate risk-taking in Japan over the sample periods of 2000 2010. Reflecting the ongoing changes in the ownership structure in Japan, we incorporate the various kinds of insider and outsider ownership in the analysis. Ownership such as concentrated ownership, ownership by closely related parties, financial institutions comprising banks and insurance companies and managers are categorized into inside ownership, while ownership by foreigners or financial institution such as investment trusts or pension funds are categorized into outside ownership. The ownership structure is found to have a different impact on the firm’s risk-taking behavior. The study shows that concentrated ownership or ownership by closely related parties affect the firm risks in a convex manner and encourages the firm management to take more risk when the firms have growth opportunities. On the other hand, ownership by financial institutions such as bank and insurance companies, does not seem to affect the firm risk level. This implies that the financial institutions fail to play their role of a shareholder monitor. When managerial ownership is allowed, it is found that Japanese managers’ incentives are aligned with those of shareholders. Contrary to the conventional entrenchment hypothesis, however, managers seem to take more risk as the share of managerial ownership increases. Foreign investors are found to enhance corporate risk-taking in a monotonic manner and do not bias corporate investment in a conservative direction in pursuit of their short-term gains. Domestic institutions such as investment trusts or pension funds are found to neither affect the firm risk level nor enhance the firm value.

CEO power, corporate risk taking and role of large shareholders

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junaid Haider ◽  
Hong-Xing Fang
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Dynamic Panel Data ◽  
Ceo Power ◽  
Total Risk ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Large Shareholders ◽  
Corporate Risk ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to investigate whether a powerful chief executive officer (CEO) impacts corporate risk taking in the distinctive institutional and market setting of China? Second, in case such relationship exists, the paper further aims to investigate whether the presence of large shareholders affects it, and finally, whether this effect of large shareholders varies in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs). Design/methodology/approach The authors have used a sample of 1,502 Chinese firms listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Sample period is 2008-2013. Besides conventional fixed-effect regression, dynamic panel data estimation (generalized method of moments) is applied to address the potential endogeneity. Findings The results show that CEO power is negatively related with corporate risk taking in two risk proxies, i.e. total risk and idiosyncratic risk. Second, the presence of large shareholders significantly affects this relationship, but does not change the primary negative relationship between CEO power and corporate risk taking. Finally, the results show that the relationship between CEO power and corporate risk taking is different in SOEs and NSOEs. The findings of this paper contend the organizational and behavioral theory viewpoint that individual decisions are more extreme. Practical implications This study provides useful implication for policymakers and suggests that while evaluating CEO’s performance, institutional and market settings should be considered. Originality/value This study provides new insights on the impact of CEO power on corporate risk taking under the two distinctive features in a developing country, i.e. presence of large shareholders and state-owned enterprises.

scholarly journals State Ownership and Risk-Taking Behavior: An Empirical Approach to Get Better Profitability, Investment, and Trading Strategies for Listed Corporates in Vietnam

Economies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Tran Thai Ha Nguyen ◽  
Massoud Moslehpour ◽  
Thi Thuy Van Vo ◽  
Wing-Keung Wong
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Trading Strategy ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
Trading Strategies ◽  
Risk Appetite ◽  
Risk Taking Behavior ◽  
Corporate Risk ◽  
The Impact

Corporate risk-taking behavior and investment is a crucial factor in order to seek higher profits and a better trading strategy. Competitive advantage and innovation, while maintaining profitability and state ownership, are considered as crucial resources. Furthermore, it is essential to connect the short-term and long-term business and investment objectives plus stakeholder’s expectations to corporate sustainability and development. This connection is especially important in the context of transforming economies and getting better trading strategies. This study estimates the relationship between state ownership, profitability, corporate risk-taking behavior, and investment in Vietnam by using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) methods. Using the data of 501 listed non-financial corporates during the period 2007–2015 from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi Stock Exchanges, we find that profitability is determined as a factor to reduce corporate risk-taking acceptance caused by the chances of entrenchment. Meanwhile, the impact of state ownership on the risk appetite of corporate has a non-linear effect. In particular, state ownership reduces corporate risk-taking behavior and investment but yet increases the risk-taking behavior and investment when the state ownership rate exceeds a threshold. One the one hand, this implies that the low level of state ownership not only prevents risk-taking behavior and investment but also results in more severe agency problems, causing unsustainability due to the imbalance of interests among various stakeholders. On the other hand, a dominant role of state ownership concentration causes a boost in corporate risk-taking decision-making in investment and trading strategy, leveraging the connection of significant external resources to deal with uncertain problems. The study contributes to existing theories of corporate governance in the context of a socialist-oriented market.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document