2,808 research outputs found
The analysis and projection of mortality rates for annuity and pensions business
Longevity risk is a major issue for the developed world. As both mortality rates and
birth rates fall, the increasing burden of providing for retirees falls on a smaller working
population. Under such circumstances, the accurate modelling and measurement of
longevity risk becomes particularly important.
Longevity risk is present in the annuity portfolios of insurance companies, and
increasingly of reinsurers as well. However, the biggest concentration of longevity risk
in the private sector in the United Kingdom is most often in the shape of de nedbene
t pension promises by employers. This makes longevity risk of crucial interest
to managers and investors, even if they think that their business has nothing to do
with insurance.
Actuaries handle longevity risk by breaking it into two components: the current (or
period) rates of mortality, and the projection of future rates. In both areas actuaries
have made signi cant advances in their modelling and understanding of longevity risk.
This critical review outlines how methods have developed, and how the papers in the
accompanying thesis have contributed to these advances
Spatial Competition in Private Labels
Previous studies find that private labels increase retailers' bargaining power with manufacturers and allow retailers to price discriminate. We use a spatial discrete choice model to show that retailers also use store brands to create market power through store differentiation, but not as a means of building market share.Marketing,
OBESITY AND HYPERBOLIC DISCOUNTING: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS
Behavioral economists maintain that addictions such as alcoholism, smoking and over-eating represent examples of present-bias in decision making that is fundamentally irrational. In this article, we develop a model of present bias and apparently hyperbolic discounting that is fully consistent with rational behavior. We construct an experiment to test our hypothesis and to determine whether discount rates differ for individuals who engage in behaviors that could endanger their health. Our results show that discount functions are quasi-hyperbolic in shape, and that obesity and drinking are positively related to the discount rate. Anti-obesity policy, therefore, would be best directed to informing individuals as to the long-term implications of short-term gratification, rather than taxing foods directly.addiction, discounting, experiments, hyperbolic, obesity, time-inconsistency, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, C91, D12, D91, I18,
Obesity and Hyperbolic Discounting: An Experimental Analysis
Behavioral economists maintain that addictions such as alcoholism, smoking and over-eating represent examples of present-bias in decision making that is fundamentally irrational. In this article, we develop a model of present bias and apparently hyperbolic discounting that is fully consistent with rational behavior. We construct an experiment to test our hypothesis and to determine whether discount rates differ for individuals who engage in behaviors that could endanger their health. Our results show that discount functions are quasi-hyperbolic in shape, and that obesity and drinking are positively related to the discount rate. Anti-obesity policy, therefore, would be best directed to informing individuals as to the long-term implications of short-term gratification, rather than taxing foods directly.addiction, discounting, experiments, hyperbolic, obesity, time-inconsistency., Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, C91, D12, D91, I18.,
Industrial structural geology : principles, techniques and integration : an introduction
The authors wish to acknowledge the generous financial support provided in association with this volume to the Geological Society and the Petroleum Group by Badley Geoscience Ltd, BP, CGG Robertson, Dana Petroleum Ltd, Getech Group plc, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd, Midland Valley Exploration Ltd, Rock Deformation Research (Schlumberger) and Borehole Image & Core Specialists (Wildcat Geoscience, Walker Geoscience and Prolog Geoscience). We would like to thank the fine team at the Geological Society’s Publishing House for the excellent support and encouragement that they have provided to the editors and authors of this Special Publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Long-range electron transfer in structurally engineered pentaammineruthenium (histidine-62) cytochrome c
In many biological processes, long-range electron transfer (ET) plays a key role. When the three-dimensional structures of proteins are accurately known, use of modified proteins and protein-protein complexes provides an experimental approach to study ET rates between two metal centers. For Ru(His)- modified proteins, the introduction of histidine residues at any desired surface location by site-directed mutagenesis opens the way for systematic investigations of ET pathways
- …