Volume 6, Issue 1, May 2014, Pages 90–96
Abdelkader Derbali1
1 Higher Institute of Management of Sousse, University of Sousse, Tunis, Research Unit: Management and Risk Management, Tunisia
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Business performance has attracted researchers' attention in the literature of corporate finance over the past decades. However, in the context of the insurance sector, they have given some attention. There are many factors to consider when looking at insurance companies. More than anything, consumers and investors should be concerned about the financial strength of the insurer and its ability to meet its ongoing obligations to holders of insurance policies. The insurance sector is one of the fundamental elements in the financing of the Tunisian economy and contributes to the effort of the State to support the development of the countries. According to experts of the insurance sector in 2011 was difficult for insurance companies. In this study, we examine the impact of firm-specific characteristics (size, leverage, tangibility, risk, growth, liquidity and age) on the performance of eight insurance companies in Tunisia a period of 8 years (2005-2012). The analysis of the results from a regression on panel data indicates that the variables height, age and premium growth are the most important determinants of the performance of insurance companies measured by ROA ratio (Return on Asset). Then, the performance of insurance companies is not statistically significant with leverage, tangibility, liquidity and risk.
Author Keywords: Performance, characteristics specific to insurance companies, life insurance, ROA, Panel data.
Abdelkader Derbali1
1 Higher Institute of Management of Sousse, University of Sousse, Tunis, Research Unit: Management and Risk Management, Tunisia
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Business performance has attracted researchers' attention in the literature of corporate finance over the past decades. However, in the context of the insurance sector, they have given some attention. There are many factors to consider when looking at insurance companies. More than anything, consumers and investors should be concerned about the financial strength of the insurer and its ability to meet its ongoing obligations to holders of insurance policies. The insurance sector is one of the fundamental elements in the financing of the Tunisian economy and contributes to the effort of the State to support the development of the countries. According to experts of the insurance sector in 2011 was difficult for insurance companies. In this study, we examine the impact of firm-specific characteristics (size, leverage, tangibility, risk, growth, liquidity and age) on the performance of eight insurance companies in Tunisia a period of 8 years (2005-2012). The analysis of the results from a regression on panel data indicates that the variables height, age and premium growth are the most important determinants of the performance of insurance companies measured by ROA ratio (Return on Asset). Then, the performance of insurance companies is not statistically significant with leverage, tangibility, liquidity and risk.
Author Keywords: Performance, characteristics specific to insurance companies, life insurance, ROA, Panel data.
How to Cite this Article
Abdelkader Derbali, “Determinants of performance of insurance companies in Tunisia: the case of life insurance,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 90–96, May 2014.
