Cassandra R. Cole

Florida State University | FSU · Department of Risk Management, Insurance, Real Estate & Legal Studies

Extant literature has explored policyowner decision‐making as it relates to both life insurance policy surrender and borrowing activity. However, researchers have not yet examined why individuals may select one option over the other. In this study, we investigate common hypotheses related to policy surrender and loan activity using approaches which...

The U.S. property-casualty insurance industry has witnessed substantial growth in the cyber insurance market over the past decade, largely attributable to the proliferation of technology in the business world paired with the greater occurrence of cyber-related loss activity. While cyber insurance plays an increasingly important role both in the ins...

The conglomerate organizational structure of health insurers suggests two distinct methods of product diversification – the first is firm-level diversification, or diversification within individual affiliates, and the second is conglomerate-level diversification, or diversification across affiliates of the conglomerate. We hypothesize that using bo...

Few papers have analyzed the potential linkages between mispricing and the specific demographic and political traits of those impacted. The existence of mispricing may have adverse and potentially unintended impacts on certain demographic groups, leading to significant public policy concerns. The current study uses census tract data and rating fact...

Corporate name changes are relatively common events, with some evidence suggesting that name changes are strategic in nature. Although prior research has examined the effect of name changes on the firm, these studies have focused primarily on the stock price reaction to name changes. Such a focus has a number of limitations, including a reliance on...

Health insurance premiums have more than doubled over the last ten years, with some suggesting that this may be the result of the high market concentration in the health insurance industry. In this paper, we conduct a state-level analysis in which we examine the health insurance marketplace, the degree of market concentration, and health insurance...

There is a continuing debate related insurers’ use of direct repair programs (DRPs), in which they contract with particular body shops to perform insured auto repairs according to terms agreed to by the insurers and repair shop owners. A similar debate exists related to insurers specifying the use of aftermarket crash parts instead of original equi...

In today's global marketplace, the extent of internationalization has become increasingly relevant. We use the framework of the eclectic paradigm to empirically investigate internationalization by U.S. reinsurers using the net financial position in foreign markets to proxy for the level of internationalization. Our sample includes both developed an...

The liability exposure in the majority of states is limited by law, specifically states’ sovereign immunity statutes. However, the sovereign immunity of states and state entities have been challenged in both federal and state courts for nearly 200 years. This article reviews the principle of sovereign immunity, the sovereign immunity statutes of th...

There has been a significant increase in the use of social media and the volume of personal information provided on social networking websites. As such, social media has the potential for a variety of uses by businesses, including insurers. As the use becomes more widespread, insurers must navigate the rapidly evolving legal and regulatory landscap...

There is concern among insurers and related firms in the United States and abroad that there will be a shortage of skilled insurance professionals in the next few years as current workers retire. Though there have been discussions among insurers, organizations, and academics as to how to address this issue, until recently, each group has been prima...

In today’s global marketplace, the internationalization decision has become increasingly relevant for a greater number of firms. We use the framework of the eclectic paradigm to empirically investigate the decision of U.S. reinsurers to internationalize based on their net exposure in both developed and developing nations. The reinsurance industry p...

Insurers are formally and informally monitored by a variety of stakeholders, including reinsurers, agents, outside board members, and regulators. While other studies have generally examined these stakeholders separately, they have not accounted for the fact that there is some relation among the stakeholder groups, and the presence of these groups i...

Abstract Catastrophic risk financing is a critical issue for many states. At the epicenter of the debate is the role of the state government in helping homeowners finance catastrophic storm risk. In general, states have used a variety of pre- and postloss strategies, including rate regulation, residual markets, guaranty funds, and postloss assessme...

While unsolicited financial strength ratings have been studied in the banking literature, these sometimes controversial ratings have not been studied in insurance. Utilizing data from multiple sources including a proprietary dataset, we provide the most comprehensive examination of insurer financial strength ratings to date and the first analysis o...

Issues associated with the relation between the separation of ownership and management and risk-taking behavior have been considered in an array of studies, with varying results. Due to the wide variety of ownership structures present, the property–casualty insurance industry provides an excellent setting to test the conflicting hypotheses related...

Catastrophic risk financing is a critical issue for many states. At the epicenter of the debate is the role of the state government in helping homeowners finance catastrophic storm risk. In general, states have used a variety of pre- and postloss strategies, including rate regulation, residual markets, guaranty funds, and postloss assessment struct...

Catastrophic risk financing is a critical issue for many states. At the epicenter of the debate is what the role of the state should be in helping homeowners finance catastrophic storm risk. In general, states have used a variety of pre-and post-loss strategies including rate regulation, residual markets, guaranty funds, and post-loss assessment st...

Universities and colleges continue to face constraints related to classroom space and faculty time, thus increasing the need to consider options such as hybrid courses that can leverage available resources. This article discusses the benefits of a hybrid course, as well as its design and implementation at a large, public university. In addition, fo...

Prior studies have considered a variety of factors that may account for the variation in wealth across U.S. households. This study adds to existing literature in this area by more closely analyzing a subset of households - those considered low savers. More specifically, we empirically determine which factors most account for the low savings pattern...

Catastrophic risk financing is a critical issue for many states. At the epicenter of the debate is the role of the state government in helping homeowners finance catastrophic storm risk. In general, states have used a variety of pre- and post-loss strategies, including rate regulation, residual markets, guaranty funds, and post-loss assessment stru...

Hurricane models are a significant tool used in estimating loss costs in catastrophe-prone areas. While the major hurricane loss cost models consider a consistent set of factors, there are variations in how the factors are treated in the models. This can lead to considerable variation in the modeled average annual losses (AALs), even at the exposur...

Few studies of pension funding consider the agency conflicts that might affect pension plan management and the role of pension plans within the overall capital structure of firms. The primary purpose of this study is to determine if a relation exists between the level of insider ownership and pension plan funding levels. The results of the study su...

United States regulators and alien insurers are currently debating the appropriateness and efficacy of existing collateralization requirements. U.S. insurers are required to report the provision for reinsurance, which decreases statutory assets to reflect the possibility that a portion of reinsurance recoverables may be uncollectible. To avoid this...

Since its inception, the effectiveness of no-fault legislation has been highly debated. While some research suggests that no-fault laws are effective in reducing costs, other evidence suggests that the current no-fault systems may not meet the original objectives. This study takes a closer look at the relation of no-fault legislation and premiums....

This article uses a consistent methodology to estimate several retirement income adequacy measures for households that participate in two national surveys. In addition, we examine the impact of a variety of factors on retirement preparedness. We find that Survey of Consumer Finances households have higher income replacement rates, but lower consump...

In empirical research related to the property-casualty insurance industry, studies commonly focus on either insurers or reinsurers. However, in many cases, the definition used to make the distinction between the two groups is often not clearly defined and/or the definition varies across studies. This variation could result in a substantially differ...

This study provides a test of the eclectic paradigm with data from U.S. reinsurers. The U.S. reinsurance industry provides a unique setting to test the eclectic paradigm due to the extensive data available on U.S. reinsurers and the well-developed literature related to reinsurance. The ability to test the hypotheses related to the eclectic paradigm...

United States regulators and alien insurers are currently debating the appropriateness and efficacy of existing collateralization requirements. U.S. insurers are required to report the provision for reinsurance which decreases statutory assets to reflect the possibility that a portion of reinsurance recoverables may be uncollectible. To avoid this...

This study examines the effect of the state of the international reinsurance market on the demand for reinsurance by U.S. insurers using data from the years 1993 through 2000. Both the overall demand for reinsurance and the utilization of foreign reinsurance by U.S. insurers are explored. In addition to supporting the findings of prior literature r...

With the heightened concern surrounding the financial position of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and possible changes to the Social Security retirement system, the protection of employer-sponsored retirement benefits is of critical importance. This study reviews the adequacies of the various retirement savings components and provides an a...

U.S. health c `are costs have been on the rise for some time. In addition, it is estimated that approximately 15.7% of the U.S. population is without health insurance coverage. Thus, the accessibility and affordability of health care have become critical issues. As a result, "fair share health care" bills have surfaced in legislatures of more than...

Statistics gathered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation indicate that an average of 7,000 defined benefit plans were terminated per year between 1988 and 1997. Prior studies exploring motives for defined benefit pension plan terminations have focused exclusively on overfunded plans. This article expands upon the previous termination literat...

In recent years, mold has created a crisis in the insurance market that has resulted in an estimated $3 billion to $8 billion in claims annually. This crisis has led to wide-scale changes within the insurance industry as well as other industries. A flurry of legislation and regulation has been introduced in several areas related to: (1) insurance p...

Insurance markets often experience problems with affordability and availability of coverage due to claims stemming from a single peril. One option to stabilize the private insurance market is to establish a government or quasi-government facility. This study examines the key issues surrounding the establishment of a single peril facility, drawing o...

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of silica lawsuits being filed in recent years. Specifically, some companies have seen a three to fourfold increase in the number of silica-related claims. These movements have created a great deal of concern as to whether silica claims will escalate to the level of asbestos losses. As such, the issu...

In the past two years, more than 30 states have attempted to regulate both the information contained in claims reporting databases as well as the use of that information in the underwriting of personal lines insurance contracts. Insurance industry lobbyists have generally fought against such legislation, suggesting the databases are necessary in or...

In 1965, Keeton and O'Connell introduced their arguments supporting a no-fault automobile insurance system. Under a pure no-fault system, drivers would waive their rights to sue for bodily injuries, lost wages, and medical expenses in exchange for generous first-party benefits they could collect from their own insurers. The original goals of the no...

Since the 1920s, states have struggled with how to deal with the problem of uninsured motorists. Despite a wide variety of regulation, the average uninsured motorist rate is still estimated at between 13% and 19%. This study draws upon the economic theory of crime and punishment and the factors affecting the levels of uninsured motorists to test wh...

The issue of subsidence is important in many parts of the country. Whether caused by mines collapsing, oil pumping, or weather, property owners are faced with how to finance these losses, which are not typically covered in standard property policies. Several states have devised funding mechanisms such as reinsurance facilities and organizations spe...