Insurance Economics/Versicherungsökonomik

Course Content

This course provides an introduction to insurance economics.

Topics addressed include:

• Choice under uncertainty (expected utility theory and rational decision under risk, measure for risk aversion, mean variance preferences)

• Insurance demands by households (base model, insurance demand without fair premium, Pareto-optimal insurance contract)

• Insurance demand by firms (risk management and diversification, risk management forward, future and options, corporate demand for insurance)

• Insurance supply (traditional premium calculation, financial modelling of insurance pricing, economies of scope, economies of scale)

• Microeconomic analysis (moral hazard, adverse selection)

• Insurance regulation

Requirements

The lecture is designed for Bachelor and Master students of "Economathematics", "Mathematics", "Economics" or "Finance" that are at an advanced stage of their studies.

Exam

First exam: Monday, August 12 2019, 12:00(s.t.)-14:00

Lecture hall for first exam: O25 - H1

Post-exam review (first exam):
Tuesday, August 20 2019, 12:00-13:00 and Thursday, August 22 2019, 11:00-12:00 in Heho22/2.22

The grades for the first exam are published in the Hochschulportal!

Repetition exam: Thursday, October 17 2019, 08:00(s.t.)-10:00

Lecture hall for repetition exam: O25 - H2

Post-exam review (repetition exam):
Tuesday, October 22 2019, 13:00-14:00 and Wednesday, October 23 2019, 13:00-14:00 in Heho20/1.47

The grades for the repetition exam are published in the Hochschulportal!

• The exam will be carried out in written form.
• The exam will be open, i.e. you can also take the repetition exam without taking the first exam.
• Authorized auxiliaries: pens, ruler and a non-programmable and non-graphic calculator.
• To take part in the first exam or/and in the repetition exam (in order to get a grade and, if you pass, the credits for the course), you have to register for the corresponding exam(s) via the Hochschulportal.

DAV Certificate

Within this lecture it is possible to achieve the certificate of the German actuarial society (Deutsche Aktuar Vereinigung DAV) in "Wirtschaftliches und rechtliches Umfeld" (PO 4). Note that this certificate is equivalent to "Versicherungswirtschaftslehre" (PO 3).

This certificate is a basic requirement for becoming an actuary in Germany. 

To achieve this DAV certificate, it is required to separately pass the final course exam (it does not matter if it is the first or the repetition exam) and a DAV supplement exam. (Note that the semester, in which you pass the final course exam, and the semester, in which you pass the DAV supplement exam, do not need to coincide.)

The material necessary for the DAV supplement exam will be discussed in a DAV supplement course, that will be held by Dr. Frank Pfeuffer. Note that the DAV supplement exam will be offered in German and in English (as well as the slides used in this DAV supplement course; see Moodle). Upon request, Dr. Pfeuffer can hold the course not only in German, but also in English. Just ask him during the course times!

The dates for the DAV supplement course in the current semester has been set as follows:

• Wednesday, May 08 2019, 14:00-18:00, Heho 18 - 1.20
• Wednesday, May 15 2019, 14:15-18:00, Heho 18 - 1.20
• Wednesday, May 22 2019, 14:15-18:00, Heho 18 - 1.20

The DAV supplement exam in the current semester will be carried out on

• Saturday, June 15 2019, 10:00(s.t.)-12:00 in O28 - H22

The marking of the DAV supplement exam has been finished! You should have received an e-mail informing you if you have passed the DAV supplement exam or not. If you have not received this e-mail, please contact us via writing an email to thorsten.sehner@uni-ulm.de.

Post-exam review (DAV supplement exam):

Thursday, June 27 2019, 13:00-14:00 and Friday, June 28 2019, 13:00-14:00 in Heho 20 - 1.67

Note that, since the passing of both the DAV supplement exam and the final course exam is required to achieve the DAV certificate, it is necessary that you register for both:

• For the DAV supplement exam, you register on Moodle.
• For the final course exam, you register via the Hochschulportal, as usual.

Since by the latter registration you get a grade and, if you pass, the credits for the regular lecture, it is clear that it is not possible to achieve the DAV certificate without getting a grade (and possibly the credits) for the regular lecture. However, there exists an exception: If you cannot register for the final course exam via the Hochschulportal anymore (because, for example, you have already passed it in a previous semester) and have not achieved the DAV certificate so far (because, for example, you have written the repetition exam in that previous semester), it is possible to achieve the DAV certificate without the registration via the Hochschulportal. In this case, please still register on Moodle for the DAV supplement exam and via an email to thorsten.sehner@uni-ulm.de for the final course exam (you still need to pass both exams regardless whether you have already passed the final course exam in a previous semester).

Literature

The main textbook

• Zweifel, P. and R. Eisen (2012), Insurance Economics, Springer.

Further reading

• Farny, D. (2006), Versicherungsbetriebslehre, 4. u. überarbeitete Auflage, Karlsruhe: Verlag Versicherungswirtschaft.
• Felderer, B. und S. Homburg (2005), Makroökonomik und neue Makroökonomik , 9. Auflage, Berlin: Springer.
• Schulenburg, J.-M. (2005), Versicherungsökonomik, ein Leitfaden für Studium und Praxis, Karlsruhe: Verlag Versicherungswirtschaft.
• Vaughan, J. E. und T. Vaughan (2003), Fundamentals of Risk and Insurance, 9. Edition, Wileys & Sons.
• Zweifel, P. und R. Eisen (2003), Versicherungsökonomie, 2. u. verbesserte Auflage - Berlin et al: Springer.

"Semesterapparat"