Advanced Seminar Economics, Policy & Econometrics: Insurance Economics

Seminar participants analyze selected problems in insurance economics from a theoretical as well as practical perspective. A particular focus of the seminar will be on the optimal design of insurance contracts in different informational settings and in different market structures. Furthermore, participants will derive recommendations for an optimal regulation of insurance markets in the presence of market failures.

After participation, students will be able to explain and present specific topics in insurance economics by means of micro- and welfare-economic concepts. Furthermore, they are able to assess the debated theoretical and empirical contributions to insurance economics and to integrate them in the literature. By means of discussions following the presentations, students learn to critically reflect upon the assumptions and methods of the debated economic models.

Seminar participants elaborate a topic in insurance economics - either independently or in groups of two or three (depending on the total number of participants). The examination comprises two parts: 1) Presentation (1/3 of grade) on the selected topic and a corresponding brief written précis (extensive handout) followed by a discussion 2) Written seminar paper (12 pages) (2/3 of grade) on the selected topic Students should demonstrate their capacity for abstraction (thinking in economic models) and concretization (interpreting and applying the results of the model, deriving recommendations for political action) regarding current topics.

Participants should be familiar with the fundamental microeconomic analysis of choice under uncertainty, in particualar with expected utility theory (as tought for instance in "Advanced Microeconomics" at TUM School of Management).

Seminar participants elaborate a topic in insurance economics - either independently or in groups of two or three (depending on the total number of participants). The examination comprises a presentation as well as a seminar paper on the selected topic.