Raising capital in an insurance oligopoly market

We consider an oligopoly of firms that compete on price. Firms produce a non-stochastic output, insurance coverage, which is sold before the true cost is known. They behave as if they were risk-averse for a standard reason of costly external finance. The model consists in a two-stage game. At stage 1, each firm chooses its internal capital level. At stage 2, firms compete on price. We characterize the conditions for Nash equilibria and analyze the strategic impact of capital choice on the market. We discuss the model with regard to insurance industry specificity and regulation.Price Competition; Risk-averse Firms; Insurance Market; Capital Choice.

Fertilizer Studies as Conducted on Muck Soil in Sanpete County, Utah

The reclamation of muck soil is a new development in the state of Utah. Knowledge concerning the various properties and requirements of the newly-drained area in Sanpete County, Utah, is extremely limited. A need for fundamental information concerning this type of soil was the basis for the establishment of an experimental farm in this region. The fact that most organic soils respond to mineral fertilizers soon after they have been reclaimed was an important reason for starting fertilizer work on this soil as soon as it was possible to do so. This thesis reports some of the fertilizer work being conducted on the farm. The soil on which the experimental work is being conducted seems to be fairly representative of an area of about 6500 acres located near the south end of the Sanpete Valley. The muck soil has been developed here in what was originally a shallow lake, with an impervious blue clay as the bottom. The soil was formed by the growth of marsh plants, the remains of which have accumulated and have been preserved in the water. From the time the valley was settled with white people up until 1926, the area had been used for the production of native hay and for pasture. The native sedge sod was first broken up in this region in the fall of 1926. The drainage of the area was started in the fall of 1925 and consisted of constructing canals around the project to control spring flood water. A central drain was installed, through the bottom of the area, with sufficient small laterals to properly drain the soil. The development of the area for at least two years after breaking the sod has consisted of pulverizing the coarse sod, allowing sufficient time for the roots to decay, so that crops could be grown

A dynamic model of extreme risk coverage : resilience and efficiency in the global reinsurance market

This paper presents a dynamic model of the reinsurance market for catastrophe risks. The model is based on the classical capacity-constraint assumption. Reinsurers choose every year the quantity of risk they cover and the level of external capital they raise to cover these risks. The model exhibits time dependency and reproduces a market dynamics that shares many features with the real market. In particular, market price increases and reinsurance coverage decreases after large shocks, and a series of smaller losses may have a deeper impact than one larger loss. There is a significant oligopoly effect reducing reinsurance supply, and the market is segregated into strategic large actors that influence market prices and price-taker smaller firms. A regulation trade-off between market efficiency and resilience is identified and quantified: improving the ability of the market to cope with exceptional events increases the cost of reinsurance. This model provides an interesting basis to analyze further capacity needs for the insurance industry in view of growing worldwide exposure to catastrophic risks and climate change.Markets and Market Access,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Climate Change Economics,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets

La construction des connaissances sur les codes numéraux et digitaux des nombres : un processus de coordination de connaissances multiples

L'étude vise à préciser les processus d'élaboration et de coordination des connaissances sur les codes digitaux et numéraux des nombres chez des élèves de première année. Des tâches d'écriture, de lecture et de rappel de la suite nommée des nombres sont présentées à 16 élèves. Sur la base de modèles élaborés dans le domaine et d'un examen plus approfondi des connaissances de certains de ces élèves, les auteures proposent un modèle d'identification des processus de coordination de connaissances sur les codes des nombres. Ce modèle permet de dégager chez les élèves cinq niveaux de performance et de mieux comprendre la signification des écarts entre ceux-ci. Il fait ressortir également le jeu essentiel de coordination des connaissances des deux codes dans la construction d'une première représentation de la suite des 100 premiers nombres.This study specifies the processes used by grade 1 students in elaborating and coordinating knowledge about digit and number codes. The tasks presented to 16 students include writing, reading, and number series recall. Based on models in this area and on information regarding students' background knowledge, the authors propose a model to identify the processes used in coordinating number code knowledge. This model provides a way to describe five performance levels and to better understand differences between levels. The authors also describe the necessary cognitive activity involved in co-ordinating knowledge about the two codes when constructing a first representation of the first 100 number series.El estudio trata de precisar los procesos de elaboracion y de coordinacion de conocimientos de codigos digitales y numéricos en los conceptos de numéros en alumnos de primer afïo. Se presentaron tareas de escritura, de lecturay de recapitulaciôn de la secuencia numérica. Sobre la base de modelos elaborados sobre el tema y de un examen mas a fondo de los conocimientos de algunos de estos alumnos, los autores proponen un modelo de identifîcacion de los procesos de coordinacion de conocimientos sobre los codigos de numéros. Este modelo permite elaborar cinco nivelés de conductas en los ninos y comprender mejor la significacion de las diferencias entre ellos. También hace resaltar el juego esencial de coordinacion des conocimientos de los dos codigos en la construcciôn de una primera representacion de secuencia en los 100 primeros numéros.Die Studie will die Vorgânge der Ausarbeitung und Koordination der Kenntnisse iiber die Tafeln der Stellenwerte und Zahlenreihen bei Erstklàsslern klarlegen. 16 (sechzehn) Schùler mùssen eine genannte Zahlenfolge schreiben, lesen und merken. Ausgehend von solchen Modellen und von einer genaueren Uberpriifung der Kenntnisse gewisser Schûler, schlagen die Verfasserinnen ein Modell der Koordinationsvorgànge der Kenntnisse ùber die Zahlentafeln vor. Damit kann man bei den Schulern 5 (fiinf) Leis- tungsstufen herausfinden und die Bedeutung der Abstànde zwischen ihnen besser verstehen. Es stellt auch die wesentliche Koordinationsbeziehung der Kenntnisse der beiden Zahlen tafeln im Aufbau einer ersten Darstellung der ersten 100 Zahlen heraus

Motiver les étudiants du collégial à bouger : regard sur la contribution des cours d’éducation physique

Conférence présentée lors de la Journée de la recherche sur la motivation au collégial - 2e édition, organisée dans le cadre du 87e congrès de l'Acfas, Gatineau, le 27 mai 2019