PRISM :: Browsing by Author "Nielson, Norma"

Browsing by Author "Nielson, Norma"

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Open Access
Age as a Variable in Insurance Pricing and Risk Classification
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) Nielson, Norma; Kelly, Mary
This paper examines the use of age in the delivery of personal insurance to Canadians. We find that age is a reliable classification variable and one that can be practically implemented. Primary concerns about age as a classification variable centre around the issue of socially acceptability. In particular, we focus on age and auto insurance where, unlike life and health insurance, there exists no strong intuitive causal relationship. In North America, the frequency and severity of auto accidents are highly correlated with age, in a nonlinear relationship. The data produce a distinctive U-shape curve when accident history is graphed against age. However, heterogeneity in driving abilities for both younger and older ages emphasizes that this relationship is one of correlation. To assess whether there exists a “better” classification variable, this paper explores possible alternatives to age. In the end, none of the variables examined captures a driver’s risk with the same degree of accuracy as can be achieved using age.
Open Access
Alternatives to Cash in Ensuring the Solvency of Defined Benefit Pension Funds
(International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, 2008) Nielson, Norma; Hedges, P.L.; Lee, Ryan B.
Since 2001, even some sound corporate sponsors have faced sudden and severe negative impacts on pension plan solvency due to poor equity market performance, record low interest rates and declining mortality trends. Following an overview of key accounting changes that have occurred internationally, this article reports on legislation and regulations developing in Canada to assist plan sponsors. The authors describe different instruments of financial guarantee that might be employed and identify several areas that require additional work to enhance those instruments' robustness and transparency.
Open Access
Application of Expert Systems in Insurance Regulation
(National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 1989-09) Nielson, Norma; Brown, Carol E.
This article describes how existing expert systems in parallel disciplines might be used to address problems facing insurance regulators. It further describes how an expert system might enhance the value of the NAIC's IRIS system. It concludes with descriptions of the processes involved in building an expert system and the costs and problems likely to be encountered.
Open Access
Auto Insurance Reform for Canada's Tort Provinces
(HEC Montreal, 2004) Nielson, Norma; Kleffner, A E
Due to its mandatory nature, and because a majority of the population drives, a cost-effective and efficient system of automobile insurance is in the interest of all parties involved. Although a tort system for compensating automobile accident victims works reasonably well for that relatively small number of claimants with serious losses, it does not work very well for the higher volume of relatively minor accidents. In this paper, we suggest means by which Canadian jurisdictions operating a system of tort liability can control costs and improve compensation for accident victims. Suggested reforms focus on improving coordination between public and private-pay aspects of health care; setting first-party benefits at a level which reduces the transaction costs without increasing aggregate costs; reducing or limiting access to payments for compensation for non-economic losses for non-permanent injuries; encouraging an efficient mechanism for dispute resolution; and developing a pricing system that is perceived to be fair by insureds while also providing incentives for safe driving.
Open Access
Bringing Captives' Benefits to Smaller Employers
(Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc., 1983) Nielson, Norma
Open Access
The Efficacy of Mandated Insurance Coverage for AIDS
(National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 1989-06) Nielson, Norma; Powers, Mark; Ralston, August
At least 16,000 Americans have AIDS, and the Centers for Disease Control of the United States Public Health Service estimate that as many as 1.5 million Americans may be infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus ("HIV"). As public awareness of AIDS and its associated costs grows, the likelihood increases that insurance regulators and state legislatures will face calls to prohibit insurers from denying or restricting insurance coverage for AIDS victims. This article explores the various forms such a mandate might take, the practicality of mandated AIDS coverage, and the specific provisions of medical expense plans which play the most significant role in determining coverage for AIDS patients. The analysis concludes that, for a variety of reasons, legislation amending state insurance statutes to require coverage for AIDS would probably prove an ineffective mechanism to achieve laudable social objectives.
Open Access
ERISA Reform in a Period of State Health Care Experimentation
(National Association of Insurance Commissioners, 1996) Nielson, Norma
This article summarizes the differences in operations and incentives between self-insured ERISA plans and traditional insured plans. It explains why ERISA changes are needed to permit state experimentation with health care reform and to improve its effectiveness as the primary oversight authority for employer health benefit plans. Specific recommendations include retaining ERISA's preemption as the law of the land, but conditioning that preemption upon a series of requirements to assure that the operation of multistate, self-insured benefit plans remains compatible with a market of insured plans.
Open Access
Essays on Organizational Risk and Risk Governance Innovations: Evaluating the Current State and Mapping Some Future Directions
(2015-09-29) Eaton, Christopher; Nielson, Norma; Milton, Laurie
All organizations are subject to uncertainty and risk, the nature and extent of which ultimately affect their performance and may even threaten their survival. The frequency and severity of risk events and perceived failures of risk management and risk oversight in organizational contexts have shaken confidence in prevailing practices and stimulated reforms. As a result, many top management teams (TMTs) and boards of directors (boards) are increasingly adopting and adapting new risk governance practices. These practices comprise ideas such as enterprise risk management (ERM); structures such as risk committees, risk functions, and chief risk officers (CROs); processes such as risk aggregation and risk integration; and techniques such as risk appetite. Although some patterns of adoption, adaptation, and diffusion have emerged, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms is limited and underexplored. Despite decades of scholarly inquiry into risk behaviour in organizational contexts, the dominant theoretical perspectives remain undercontextualized and the empirical findings remain equivocal. In this multi-paper thesis, I explore the current state of knowledge regarding organizational risk and risk governance innovations and propose directions for future research. In the first paper, I build process theory from multiple cases to address why and how social actors in organizational contexts construct risk governance. In the second paper, I evaluate aggregated empirical results through a meta-analytic procedure to address why social actors in organizational contexts engage in risk behaviour. In the third paper, I elaborate process theory from multiple cases to address how social actors in organizational contexts could construct risk preference. Findings from this research reconfirm the need for scholars to extend their theoretical and empirical inquiry into organizational risk and risk governance innovations beyond the dominant technico-scientific and modernist perspectives and embrace the emergent socio-cultural and postmodernist perspectives.
Open Access
Essays on the insurance pricing of distinct business lines in multiple-line property and casualty insurance company
(2008) Zhang, Li; Nielson, Norma
Open Access
Ethics, Insurance and Information
(Stone & Cox, 1998) Nielson, Norma
Open Access
Evaluating Federal and Provincial Solvency Standards in Canada
(HEC Montreal, 2009) Nielson, Norma
This article benchmarks solvency supervisory system for the federal and provincially- licensed companies who write insurance in Canada against/The IAIS Common Structure for the Assessment of Insurer Solvency/. The federal regulator (OSFI) is the only one with statutory authority that provides both sufficient power and flexibility to be considered as meeting the core principles of IAIS. At the provincial level, the insurance supervisory system in some provinces falls short of the international standards to varying degrees and, by extension, the practices of the federal insurance regulator. Alberta, British Columbia, and Québec are not far behind. All other Canadian provinces exhibit extensive deficiencies when compared against international standards.
Open Access
An Evaluation of Financial Planning Expert Systems
(Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education, 1992) Nielson, Norma; Phillips, M.E.; Brown, C.E.
This article describes the use of expert systems in personal financial planning and the research approach used to evaluate the expert systems. For four of the six expert systems that have been developed, it compares the data-collection forms and information used in preparing personal financial plans. Then, it discusses environmental and system assumptions. Lastly, the article analyzes the impact of the variations observed in information requested, system parameters, and system assumptions, and, when possible, compares the recommendations of the plans.
Open Access
Examining the effects of guarantee funds on pension plans
(Society of Actuaries, 2009) Nielson, Norma
Bankruptcy risk falls to pension plan participants if a plan sponsor fails when a defined benefit (DB) pension plan is underfunded. This article examines the incidence of that risk and how it changes when public policy provides a guarantee fund. Although government-based guarantee funds are in a unique position to provide pension protection, primarily because of the extent to which the risk of sponsor default is systematic in nature, a looming question is the extent to which such guarantees are exposed to moral hazard. The article focuses on that question using data from four Canadian provinces, including one (Ontario) that operates a guarantee fund for pensions. The findings show that plan assets per DB-plan participant increase with the earnings of workers and decrease with higher unemployment, and that level of assets also is moderated by the influence of taxes, with higher plan assets observed when and where tax rates are higher. Plans in Ontario had on average $20,035 less in asset value per participant, and Ontario plans covered by the guarantee fund had an average of $16,497 less per participant than other Canadian DB plans not backed by a guarantee fund. A separate model finds the presence of a guarantee fund to be one of a very small number of variables significant in explaining variability in the plans’ funded ratios. These empirical results are consistent with the existence of moral hazard.
Open Access
An Expanding Employee Benefit: Personal Financial Planning with Expert Systems
(Institute of Management, 1990-09) Nielson, Norma; Phillips, Mary Ellen; Brown, Carol E.
When a provider of personal financial planning services uses an expert system to prepare plans, the cost per plan is substantailly reduced and the quality of plans is more consistent. Because of the reduced cost and increased quality, an employer can consider providing comprehensive personal financial planning to many more employees than currently are receiving this benefit.
Open Access
Expert Systems for Personal Financial Planning
(The Institute of Certified Financial Planners, 1990) Nielson, Norma; Brown, Carol E.; Phillips, Mary Ellen
Computer capability is expanding to provide users access to the judgments of the bell experts in a given field, including personal financial planning, through computer programs called expert systems. Personal financial planning expert systems can be classified as either integrated systems, which provide solutions to all aspects of financial planning or specialized systems, which focus on a smaller knowledge domain. This article discusses the various integrated personal financial planning expert systems in use. The article also discusses financial planning expert s systems based on the approach used in their development and the characteristics that should be considered in selecting a System.
Open Access
Expert Systems to Provide Financial Planning Benefits
(International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, 1991) Nielson, Norma; Phillips, M.E.; Brown, C.E.
Expert systems can substantially reduce the cost of comprehensive personal financial plans while providing more consistent quality. Four basic approaches are used by developers of expert systems for comprehensive personal financial planning: 1. a custom expert system, 2. a custom modification of an existing expert system, 3. developer-provided personal financial plans, and 4. the purchase or license of an expert system for in-house use. The best approach depends on the number of plans to be prepared, the expertise and staff in both expert systems and personal financial planning, and the choice of either an in-house or outside entity to provide the service. Criteria that should be considered when selecting a personal financial planning expert system preparer for employees include: 1. the reliability of the system, 2. the suitability of the system, 3. the form of data input, 4. the support needed to prepare input, 5. the flexibility of the system, and 6. the understandability of the output. Six financial planning expert systems are discussed.
Open Access
Group Medical Expense Provisions and the AIDS Crisis
(International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, 1988) Nielson, Norma
An exploration of the provisions of group medical expense plans that play the most significant part in determining coverage for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients presents the following crucial elements in measuring the extent of health care coverage available: 1. maximum limitations on lifetime expenditures, 2. hospice care, 3. home health care, 4. experimental treatments, 5. prescription drug coverage, 6. mental health benefits, 7. continuation benefits, 8. leaves of absence, and 9. preexisting condition clauses. Benefit managers need to monitor changes and additions to this list as a way of forecasting the rate of medical cost inflation. As a result of AIDS, several changes among medical plan benefits are predicted: 1. Self-insured financing will decline. 2. Coverage for home health care and hospice services will continue to rise. 3. Employers will formalize policies concerning leave of absence. 4. Coverage for outpatient prescription drugs will be scrutinized carefully. 5. The decline in coverage for mental benefits will slow. 6. The most contentious area of potential benefit redesign activity will be the preexisting-condition clause.
Open Access
Information and Ethics in Insurance
(CPCU Society, 1998) Nielson, Norma; Brown, D J; Gammill, L; Seville, M A
Insurance companies have a right to gather information about persons who wish to apply for insurance. That right has to be balanced by the applicant's right to privacy. Insurance companies abuse personal information at their own and the industry's risk. The issues involved are explored, research examined and the following recommendations are made: privacy concerns of customers are legitimate and the insurance industry must take appropriate steps to secure data; careful data handling can be a competitive advantage and if it is deserved it should be taken; almost every public policy activity of insurers, agents and trade organizations can have secondary effects that deal with data and privacy; rules governing the privacy of data will evolve from social values and produce a body of common law; and, to combat unacceptable regulation of insurance industry data practices, work proactively to develop a system that will provide the regulation.
Open Access
LONG-TERM LIABILITY FOR CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE IN DEPLETED NORTH AMERICAN OIL AND GAS RESERVOIRS A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
(Energy Bar Association, 2010) Nielson, Norma; Ingelson, Allan; Kleffner, Anne
State legislation in North America that addresses whether a government will accept long-term liability for damage arising from the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) after capture and storage (CCS) in depleted oil and gas reservoirs is in its infancy. Three states have developed legislation that conveys two different approaches to long-term liability. The federal governments in the United States and Canada have not developed legislation to address the issue. This article examines emerging legislative frameworks, in a limited number of jurisdictions, that have been adopted to manage long-term liability: viz., Wyoming, Kansas, Montana, the European Union (EU), and Australia. The majority of state governments to date, including Wyoming, Kansas, and the State of Victoria in Australia, are not prepared to assume long-term liability, while the EU and the State of Montana are prepared to proceed with a conditional transfer of liability from the CCS developer/operator to the government. We conclude that while a model that incorporates a conditional transfer of liability to a “pool,” such as in Montana and the EU, may encourage more investment in CCS, such a model does not incorporate the “polluter pays” principle. Arguably the incentive is greater to prevent future gas releases and thereby minimize the long-term risk to the public in jurisdictions such as Wyoming, Kansas, and the State of Victoria, where the CCS developer and/or operator retains long-term liability under the common law. As has been the practice in some jurisdictions in the North American petroleum industry, if the CCS developer/operator is either required to purchase and maintain third party liability insurance, or to post a bond or other form of security with the government for site remediation and reclamation, such an approach will help to minimize the long-term liability for the government and taxpayers. However, in the case of CCS, given the extraordinarily long duration of the risk associated with carbon storage, it is by no means certain that either insurance or bonds can be purchased for such an extended time period. We recommend a pooling approach to the management of remediation and reclamation funds based largely on arguments that it is more economically efficient to do so. While it would be theoretically possible for such a pool to be private, it is likely that the need for independent oversight will result in a governmental entity assuming the management function for such a liability/compensation scheme.
Open Access
Managing Curriculum Convergence in Risk Management and Financial Services
(Finance Education Association, 2001) Nielson, Norma; Lee, Ryan B; Kleffner, Anne E
This article describes how the University of Calgary has increased the flexibility offered to students in a curriculum that directly reflects the convergence occurring in the financial services marketplace. This design uses elements from existing programs in finance, risk management and insurance, as well as a few specific courses from accounting, economics, and other departments. The result is a double concentration that provides students a better understanding of financial services and of the career paths offered in the financial services industry. Students are able to select a career path early, which in turn benefits them and their future employers.