Courses
Risk Management and Insurance
5051. Managing Risk (1.5
s.h.)
Prerequisite: Business foundation courses.
Risk Management requires the firm to identify opportunities
for gain and exposures to unexpected loss. The firm must then
assess the potential consequences, and plan to finance the
consequences of the adverse event if it happens. This course
is designed to introduce the risk management process in the
context of general corporate management. Each step in the process
will be reviewed in detail, including setting the risk management
context, identification of risk, measurement and analysis of
potential impact, and appropriate treatment techniques. Risk
financing options will be discussed in the context of global
insurance and alternative capital markets. While the risk management
process encompasses all types of risks, we will focus our identification
discussion on the class of risks known as pure risk events;
those that pose the threat of a loss if they happen, but no
possibility of a gain.
5101. Life and Health
Insurance and Employee Benefits (3
s.h.)
Analysis of the major areas in non-pension employee benefits.
Reviews overall considerations in employee benefit design including
federal and state regulation, group insurance and the group
insurance technique, sources of healthcare benefits, HMOs,
PPOs, managed care systems and disability income benefits.
Considers flexible benefits plans and funding considerations.
Income tax implications and healthcare cost containment issues
are also examined. Group and individual life insurance theory
and practice and their use in employee benefits plans.
5102. Retirement Plans (3
s.h.)
Composed of two sections: 1) Reviews basic features and defined
contribution approaches of retirement income. Examines sponsor
objectives served by the creation of qualified retirement plans,
tax and non-tax qualification requirements, and individual
account retirement plans. Subjects: profit sharing plans, Section
401(k) and 403(b), employee stock ownership, cash balance,
simplified employee pension, and executive retirement arrangements.
2) explores defined benefit plans and plan administration,
fundamentals of pension plans with emphasis on the defined
benefit approach to providing retirement income. Subjects:
plan design, actuarial aspects (costs and funding), investment
of plan assets, and plan termination insurance. Provides a
basic foundation of retirement income.
5103. Health Risks (3
s.h.)
Focuses on: 1) special characteristics of risk managementin
healthcare institutions/agencies; 2) health insurance issues
(as benefit for patients and revenue source for providers);
3) health economics (macro) as related to above.
5104. Property and
Liability Insurance (3 s.h.)
Provides a graduate level introduction to the property-liability
insurance industry. Attention given to structure of marketplace,
regulatory framework, and relationship between the property-liability
insurance industry and the firms which it protects. Discusses
issues effecting the industry from an economic, legal, and
public policy. Applications include product liability, environmental
impairment liability, and worker's compensation issues.
5105. Advanced Applications
in Risk Management (3 s.h.)
Divided into five parts. 1) reviews statistical distributions
common in insurance e.g., negative binomial, pareto, and log
normal distributions and evaluates their ability to model long-tail
losses. 2) considers inferences from insurance data, e.g.,
the fitting of theoretical distributions using the method of
moments and maximum and credibility theory. 3) considers loss
reserve runoffs and forecasting future. 4) applies portfolio
theory (including correlation analysis) to show the relationship
between firm value (net worth) and insurance purchases. 5)
reviews discounted cash flow techniques to determine premiums
and illustrate financial aspects of captive formation.
5182. Independent Study (1-6
s.h.)
Special study in a particular aspect of insurance and risk
under the direct supervision of appropriate graduate faculty
member. No more than six hours of independent study may be
counted toward degree requirements.
5190. Special Topics-Risk Management and Insurance (1-6 s.h.)
Special topics in risk management and insurance.
9001. Seminar-Property and Liability Insurance Markets
In this course, economic, financial, and legal research issues in property-liability insurance are examined. Economic issues explored include (but are not limited to) corporate demand for insurance, domestic and international underwriting cycles, risk classification, and adverse selection. Coverage of pricing, profits, and regulation of insurers explicitly incorporate financial principles, including option pricing, discounted cash-flow ratemaking methods, and the capital asset pricing model. Legal issues focus on liability principles and tort reform. Students will learn institutional features of property-liability insurance to the extent necessary to interpret the research covered.
9002. Seminar-Life Insurance and Employee Benefits
A workshop approach is used to study the financial aspects of retirement plans, the macroeconomics aspects of pensions and health plans in the context of an aging population, and the microeconomics of retirement and income security. Students learn the steps needed to formulate a research strategy, including writing a proposal, developing hypotheses, and determining empirical tests of these hypotheses.
9003. Seminar in Risk Theory
Readings will cover the basic mathematical theory of risk: utility-theoretic foundations, finite-horizon individual and collective risk models, infinite horizon models, and the role of reinsurance. Students will make presentations or write papers on areas of current research activity, such as: applications of diffusion processes, the use of insurance-based securities, and the impact of risk-based capital regulatory requirements.
9004. Healthcare Finance and Insurance
This seminar provides a set of technical skills and knowledge base for the analysis of healthcare financing in different countries. It is designed to be of use to those working: in Ministries of Health, Ministries of Finance, or private insurance companies around the globe; in the economics and marketing departments of international pharmaceutical companies; or on the staff of international agencies. There will be a series of short assignments, two papers, and an exam. It is anticipated that some students will use the assignments as a starting point for their dissertation proposals.
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Updated 9.2007