Empirical Evidence on the Use of Credit Scoring for Predicting Insurance Losses with Psycho-social and Biochemical Explanations

An important development in personal lines of insurance in the United States is the use of credit history data for insurance risk classification to predict losses. This research presents the results of collaboration with industry conducted by a university at the request of its state legislature. The purpose was to see the viability and validity of the use of credit scoring to predict insurance losses given its controversial nature and criticism as redundant of other predictive variables currently used. Working with industry and government, this study analyzed more than 175,000 policyholders’ information for the relationship between credit score and claims. Credit scores were significantly related to incurred losses, evidencing both statistical and practical significance. We investigate whether the revealed relationship between credit score and incurred losses was explainable by overlap with existing underwriting variables or whether the credit score adds new information about losses not contained in existing underwriting variables. The results show that credit scores contain significant information not already incorporated into other traditional rating variables (e.g., age, sex, driving history). We discuss how sensation seeking and self-control theory provide a partial explanation of why credit scoring works (the psycho-social perspective). This article also presents an overview of biological and chemical correlates of risk taking that helps explain why knowing risk-taking behavior in one realm (e.g., risky financial behavior and poor credit history) transits to predicting risk-taking behavior in other realms (e.g., automobile insurance incurred losses). Additional research is needed to advance new nontraditional loss prediction variables from social media consumer information to using information provided by technological advances. The evolving and dynamic nature of the insurance marketplace makes it imperative that professionals continue to evolve predictive variables and for academics to assist with understanding the whys of the relationships through theory development.IC2 Institut

SOCIO- ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING ADOPTION BEHAVIOUR OF WOMEN CO- OPERATORS AND NON -CO- OPERATORS IN OJU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE

This paper focuses pn the influence of selected socio- economic characteristics on adoption of agricultural innovations among women co- operators and non -co- operators in Oju Local Government Area of Benue State. The socio- economic characteristics of the women studied are age, household size, farm income, agricultural credit, possession of durable goods and services, membership of cooperative, non -farm income, level of formal education, farm size, length of membership and contact with extension. For the purpose of this study, 60 women were selected and interviewed from three women cooperative societies, namely Ainu Women Co- operative, Oju Women Co- operative and Oboru Women Co- operative. Also 60 non -co- operators were selected and interviewed from the three villages. T -test was used to determine the significant difference between the means of the two groups. Coefficient of determination (R2) showed the amount of variation explained by the independent variables. For co- operators, the study shows a significant relationship between the household size, level of formal education, farm size,'farm income, non -farm income, agricultural credit, membership of co- operative, possession of durable goods and contact with extension. While for non -co- operators, the study shows a significant relationship between age, household size, farm size, farm income and non -farm income. Step -wise regression shows that for co- operators all the characteristics accounted for 49% of the variance in adoption whereas for non -co- operators all the variables accounted for 28 %

SOCIO- ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING ADOPTION BEHAVIOUR OF WOMEN CO- OPERATORS AND NON -CO- OPERATORS IN OJU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE

This paper focuses pn the influence of selected socio- economic characteristics on adoption of agricultural innovations among women co- operators and non -co- operators in Oju Local Government Area of Benue State. The socio- economic characteristics of the women studied are age, household size, farm income, agricultural credit, possession of durable goods and services, membership of cooperative, non -farm income, level of formal education, farm size, length of membership and contact with extension. For the purpose of this study, 60 women were selected and interviewed from three women cooperative societies, namely Ainu Women Co- operative, Oju Women Co- operative and Oboru Women Co- operative. Also 60 non -co- operators were selected and interviewed from the three villages. T -test was used to determine the significant difference between the means of the two groups. Coefficient of determination (R2) showed the amount of variation explained by the independent variables. For co- operators, the study shows a significant relationship between the household size, level of formal education, farm size,'farm income, non -farm income, agricultural credit, membership of co- operative, possession of durable goods and contact with extension. While for non -co- operators, the study shows a significant relationship between age, household size, farm size, farm income and non -farm income. Step -wise regression shows that for co- operators all the characteristics accounted for 49% of the variance in adoption whereas for non -co- operators all the variables accounted for 28 %

Assessing the nutritional status of Bunaji bulls fattened on varying inclusions of groundnut haulms and maize offal using some blood metabolites

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of inclusion levels of groundnut haulms (GH) and maize offal (MO) on some blood metabolites from twenty Bunaji bulls. The bulls were divided into four groups in a completely randomized design. They were fed signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens) hay ad libitum and concentrate diets containing groundnut haulms (GH) and maize offal (MO): 80:20% GH: MO, 60:40% GH: MO, 40:60% GH: MO and 20:80% GH: MO, respectively. The animals were fed the diets over a period of 90 days and their nutritional status ascertained from the serum metabolic profile.Keywords: Groundnut haulms, maize offal, packed cell volume, blood metabolites, bunaji bull