Does Georgia Need A Unitary Tax?

Abstract not available. Report #9

Georgia's Corporate Taxes: Should the Corporate Income Tax be Repealed?

An analysis prepared for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation

The regulation and structure of nonlife insurance in the United States

The insurance industry is underdeveloped in most developing countries because of low levels of income and wealth and because restrictive regulations inhibit the supply of insurance services. But several countries have begun to reform their insurance industries. To help those countries, the authors offer an overview of insurance regulation in the United States - and discuss the economics and market structure of nonlife insurance in entry and exit barriers, economies of scale, and conduct and performance studies. They conclude that the U.S. nonlife insurance industry exhibits low concentration at both national and state market levels. Concentration is low even on a line-by-line basis. The primary concern of regulators has been to protect policyholders from insolvency, but regulation has also often been used to protect the market position of local insurance companies against the entry of out-of-state competitors. Regulation has worked best when based on solvency monitoring, with limited restrictions on entry. It has been more harmful when it involved controls on premiums and products and on the industry's level of profitability. Over the years the industry has shown a remarkable degree of innovation, although it has also faced many serious and persistent problems. The problems include the widespread crisis in liability (including product liability and medical malpractice), the crisis in automobile insurance, the volatility of investment income, the effects of market-driven pricing and underwriting cycles, and the difficulty of measuring insurance solvency. The long-tailed lines of insurance - those that entail long delays in final settlements - are exposed to the vagaries of inflation and rising costs. Two mandatory lines - third party automobile insurance and workers'compensation (for work accidents) - account for nearly 55 percent of premiums. These two lines - plus medical malpractice, other liability, and aircraft insurance - had combined ratios well over 125 percent in 1989. The industry has some ability to collude and to set prices, but seems to be competitive and to earn profits below similarly situated financial firms. Insurance profitability is not consistently above or below normal returns, although earnings for mandatory and strictly regulated lines of automobile insurance and workers'compensation appear to be below-adequate for long-term viability.Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Non Bank Financial Institutions,Insurance Law,Environmental Economics&Policies,Financial Intermediation

The Effect of Insurance Premium Taxes on Employment

This report provides estimates of the effect of the insurance premium taxes on state-level employment in the insurance industry. FRC Report 18

The Georgia Premium Tax: Options for Reform

This brief examines the basic structure of Georgia's insurance premium tax and the revenue impact of a number of potential reform options

Barriers to Treatment for Socially Anxious Black American Students in Urban Public Schools

Social anxiety is frequent and debilitating for Black adolescents with associated impairment (La Greca & Stone, 1993; Stein & Kean, 2000; Van Ameringen et al., 2003). Despite its prevalence and severity, Black adolescents are less likely to seek mental health treatment due to systemic and social barriers such as accessibility and social stigma (Bains, 2014; Lindsey et al., 2006; Lindsey et al., 2013). Barriers to seeking treatment, particularly for socially anxious Black adolescents, are mostly absent in the literature and thus require investigation. To understand culturally specific factors related to social anxiety symptoms as well as to investigate perceived barriers to seeking treatment, interviews were conducted at an urban public high school in the northeastern United States with seven Black adolescents ages 15 to 18 years old. Questions included perceptions of social anxiety, treatment barriers, and school-based treatment components in relation to their racial/ethnic background. Thematic analysis was used to devise a coding scheme and capture the relevant experiences of students. Results indicated that all participants had experienced or could identify cognitive and behavioral symptoms of social anxiety, with reports of racism and social norms as culturally distinct contributors to social anxiety symptoms. Barriers to seeking treatment included stigma and judgment, speaking about issues with others, perceived effectiveness of treatment, and caregiver obstacles. We propose an anti-stigma approach for practitioners to address racism and social stigma. Moreover, creating an open and safe environment, explicitly noting the benefits of treatment, and providing psychoeducational or joint sessions with caregivers of Black adolescents are warranted

The demand for homeowners insurance with bundled catastrophe coverages : Wharton project on managing catastrophic risks

In this paper, we estimate the demand for homeowner insurance in Florida. Since we are interested in a number of factors influencing demand, we approach the problem from two directions. We first estimate two hedonic equations representing the premium per contract and the price mark-up. We analyze how the contracts are bundled and how contract provisions, insurer characteristics and insured risk characteristics and demographics influence the premium per contract and the price mark-up. Second, we estimate the demand for homeowners insurance using two-stage least squares regression. We employ ISO's indicated loss costs as our proxy for real insurance services demanded. We assume that the demand for coverage is essentially a joint demand and thus we can estimate the demand for catastrophe coverage separately from the demand for noncatastrophe coverage. We determine that price elasticities are less elastic for catastrophic coverage than for non-catastrophic coverage. Further estimated income elasticities suggest that homeowners insurance is an inferior good. Finally, we conclude based on the results of a selection model that our sample of ISO reporting companies well represents the demand for insurance in the Florida market as a whole

An Examination of Georgia's Premium Tax - Brief

This brief analyzes the effects of changing the structure the insurance premium tax on tax revenues in Georgia. FRC Brief 11

Bryophyte (SL) growth and environmental factors along an altitudinal gradient on Cerro Gaital, El Valle, Coclé, Panamá

Research on bryophytes (SL) in the tropics has been lacking compared with the high number of species found there and the potential benefit of bryophytes (SL) as indicators of pollutants and other forms of human disturbance. This study investigated whether or not bryophyte (SL) growth patterns showed relation when compared with environmental factors on the mountain Cerro Gaital in El Valley, Panamá. Whether or not bryophytes (SL) are present, extent of the area covered by their growth, and height of their growth are all aspects of bryophyte (SL) growth that were used. In this study, these three aspects are compared with three environmental factors – substrate type, altitude, and canopy cover. Data were collected along transects at four sites at different altitudes along a trail ascending the mountain. Hypothesis tests were run on each of the nine comparisons between the three bryophyte (SL) growth aspects and the three environmental factors. The results very strongly suggested that there were positive associations between bryophyte (SL) presence and substrate type, as well as presence and altitude and growth height and altitude. They also strongly indicated associations between bryophyte (SL) cover and substrate, bryophyte (SL) cover and altitude, and growth height and substrate. Canopy cover only showed an association with growth height and failed to show one for either presence or bryophyte (SL) cover. In general, the results of the tests involving substrate types and altitudes resembled results from other studies done in the tropics and elsewhere. However, the results for canopy cover did not match with other results and the one test that passed showed a negative association between canopy cover and growth height which is the opposite of what other findings indicate