天災會影響產險公司的再保險嗎？

What Matters in Reinsurance Decisions? Evidence from the Natural Disaster Effect in Taiwan

本研究針對天然災害對產險公司再保險使用決策進行研究，利用國內產險公司再保險使用資料與天然災害實際資料進行研究，由於天然災害發生後將會影響產險公司的預期損失以及使用再保險成本。本研究使用實際損失狀況、損失頻率、損失幅度衡量天災嚴重程度，實證結果顯示嚴重的天然災害發生後，將會降低產險公司再保險使用，特別是與氣候相關的天然災害包括颱風、洪水與土石流與保險公司再保險使用有顯著影響。另外，天然災害類型為地震時，對產險公司再保險使用並沒有顯著影響。

Our aim in this study is to determine the impact of natural disasters on the reinsurance decisions taken by insurance firms. Given that natural disasters are of particular relevance to the reinsurance market, the losses attributable to such natural disasters can directly affect the reinsurance costs for insurance firms, and their expected losses. Based upon actual data on natural disaster events, and using‘property and liability’(P&L) databases from the insurance industry in Taiwan, we find that P&L insurance firms change their reinsurance usage following occurrences of serious damage from natural disasters, with greater natural disaster losses generally leading to a reduction in reinsurance usage. Our results also reveal that the losses from climate-related events, such as typhoons, floods and mudslides, can have direct impacts on reinsurance usage, although this is not found to be the case for earthquake events. Our results may provide new evidence on the relationship between reinsurance usage and natural disasters.