ARTICLES ÉVALUÉS

INSURANCE FRAUD AND THE MONDAY EFFECT IN WORKERS
COMPENSATION INSURANCE
by Richard A. Derrig

L’ESSOR DES ASSURANCES DANS L’EUROPE DU XIXe SIÈCLE
par Alain Plessis et André Straus

DÉMUTUALISATION DES SOCIÉTÉS CANADIENNES
D’ASSURANCE DE PERSONNES : UNE CARACTÉRISATION
DE LEURS PREMIERS APPELS PUBLICS À L’ÉPARGNE
par Maxime Babin et Gilles Bernier

ARTICLES GÉNÉRAUX

L’ABC DE LA GESTION DES RISQUES
par Georges Dionne

L’ASSURANCE MARITIME
par Rémi Moreau

Chroniques

FAITS D'ACTUALITÉ
par Rémi Moreau

CHRONIQUE ACTUARIELLE
par divers collaborateurs du Groupe-conseil AON

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INSURANCE FRAUD AND THE MONDAY EFFECT IN WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE
by Richard A. Derrig

Insurance fraud has come under increasing scrutiny by risk managers, company claims managers, public policymakers, and academic researchers during the last fifteen years. Workers compensation insurance has always attracted employee claimants willing to fake on-the-job injuries, particularly those hard-to-verify injuries such as soft tissue or low back pain. In addition to managing individual claims for legitimacy, risk managers must respond to injury patterns through increased safety measures, but only when those injuries are legitimate. Distinguishing between legitimate and fraudulent claims can be a daunting task. This paper considers that task for one type of claims, those filed on the first day of the week.

We test the fraud hypothesis directly by using five years of available data from the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) compared to the population of workers compensation claims for the 1990-1995 period. We find no difference in the inter-day distribution of substantive fraud referrals to IFB and all claims, lending additional support to the higher injury rate hypothesis for the elevated Monday claims. This result points all risk managers toward specifying additional “Monday” specific loss controls for their operations.

Keywords: Insurance fraud, workers’ compensation, Monday effect.

JEL Classification: D80, G22.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

L’ESSOR DES ASSURANCES DANS L’EUROPE DU XIXe SIÈCLE
par Alain Plessis et André Straus

During the nineteenth century, insurance in Europe turned into a real industry and its promotors ranked among the most important businessmen. Its capitalistic character became more prominent with the growth of collective forms of business organization, especially the limited liability company, although mutual societies increased their share in some markets.

The new needs created by industrialization explain the boom, but its course was anything but even. Aided by firm actuarial calculations and reliable mortality tables, insurance, particularly life insurance, undeniably ceased to be a game of chance or a wager. Nevertheless, resistance of a social, political and cultural character remained and strengthened national differences already rooted in the inequality of economic development.

Diversity and resistance explain to some extent the fact that the state did not have the same importance in the development of some branches of insurance, notably social insurance. And, in the course of the twentieth century, this changing borderline between the public and private domains in insurance will become problematic.

Keywords: Industrialization, urbanization, insurance company, bank, accident insurance, life insurance, reinsurance, mutual insurance company, social insurance.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

DÉMUTUALISATION DES SOCIÉTÉS CANADIENNES
D’ASSURANCE DE PERSONNES : UNE CARACTÉRISATION
DE LEURS PREMIERS APPELS PUBLICS À L’ÉPARGNE
par Maxime Babin et Gilles Bernier

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we wish to examine the stock price behaviour following the initial public offerings (IPOs) of recently demutualized Canadian life insurance companies, in order to test for the possibility of widespread underpricing. Second, we also wish to assess the performance relationship between the portfolio of demutualized insurers and the market.

We conclude that there is evidence of significant short-run returns, suggesting widespread underpricing in the order of 9% on average, with most of the returns being achieved during the first day of trading. Even if we exclude the first-day returns, there is evidence that an investor, who would have bought the shares on the secondary market, could have also obtained strong returns. Finally, our portfolio of demutualized insurers, albeit a small sample, seems to significantly outperform the market over the six month period, which is not consistent with market efficiency.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

L’ABC DE LA GESTION DES RISQUES
par Georges Dionne

Financial corporate risk management has evolved in several growing ways over the last decade, but few studies in the literature focused corporate profiles which really need it.

This article is divided into three parts: the first part looks at the general definition of risk management; the second part examines the determinants that are considered in the decision to establish such an activity; the third part presents the results of an empirical study which identify the significant determinants motivating the decisions to hedge the price of gold in the mining industry.

The author concludes by the identification of the characteristics of the farm-produce sector which militates in favor of an active but prudent risk management.

Keywords: Financial corporate risk management, significative determinants, farm-produce sector.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

L’ASSURANCE MARITIME
par Rémi Moreau

This article deals exclusively with Marine Insurance in conjunction with the rules established in the Quebec civil Code. Among the main principles, Marine insurance is a contract of indemnity. Also, it is essential for the insured to have an insurable interest in the marine adventure or the insured property. The insured must disclose to the insurer all material facts or circumstances known to him which would materially influence the insurer in the appeciation of the risk.

It examines the rules about the voyage, any change, deviation or delay and the consequences for the insurer or the insured.

This article also describes the kinds of contracts (for a voyage or for a period of time), the measure of insurable value, the content of the policy, the rights and the obligations of the parties and many other rules (notice of loss, measure of indemnity, assignment, warranties, abandonment, kinds of average loss, subrogation, double insurance, under-insurance, mutual insurance, direct action)