Risk Management in Deadly Times: The U.S. Life Insurance Industry in the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Gertjan Verdickt, University of Auckland; Gustavo Cortes
Version: View help for Version V1
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Project Citation:
Verdickt, Gertjan, and Cortes, Gustavo. Risk Management in Deadly Times: The U.S. Life Insurance Industry in the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-09-17. https://doi.org/10.3886/E209168V1
Project Description
Summary:
View help for Summary
Using a novel, hand-collected
dataset of U.S. life insurance companies during the Influenza Pandemic of
1918–19, we show that high-exposure life insurers charged higher prices on new
policies vis-à-vis less exposed firms. Although the disease
surprisingly increased the mortality rates among younger adults, it also
increased awareness of the importance of life insurance. We argue that price
increases were a crucial risk management tool. Coupled with a surge in demand
and coverage, it prevented further financial distress. While devastating for
public health, the Influenza Pandemic was not too severe for the life insurance
industry.
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