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Science 12 February 1988:
Vol. 239. no. 4841, pp. 737 - 741
DOI: 10.1126/science.3340855
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Articles

Science, Vol 239, Issue 4841, 737-741
Copyright © 1988 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Causes of the liability insurance crisis

S Harrington and RE Litan

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 14104-6218.

In this article the reasons for recent dramatic premium increases for liability insurance are explored by examination of available data on industry premiums, losses, and expenses. The suggestions that the premium increases were primarily caused by collusion among insurers, cyclical behavior, or systematic errors in forecasting losses are rejected. Instead, the evidence indicates that the jump in liability insurance premiums is most plausibly due to the growth in the discounted value of expected liability losses.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Managed Care and Medical Injury: Let's Not Throw Out the Baby with the Backlash.
R. R. Bovbjerg and R. H. Miller (1999)
Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law 24, 1145-1157
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Effects of Tort Reforms on the Value of Closed Medical Malpractice Claims: A Microanalysis.
F. A. Sloan, P. M. Mergenhagen, and R. R. Bovbjerg (1989)
Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law 14, 663-689
   Abstract »    PDF »


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