• Media type: Report; E-Book
  • Title: Capital constraints and risk shifting: An instrumental approach
  • Contributor: Drexler, Alejandro [Author]; King, Thomas B. [Author]
  • Published: Chicago, IL: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 2021
  • Language: English
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.21033/wp-2021-13
  • Keywords: insurance ; Risk shifting ; G22 ; capital structure ; reinsurance ; G32
  • Origination:
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  • Description: When firms approach distress, whether they engage in asset substitution (risk shifting) or rebuild equity (risk management) may depend on their access to capital markets. The property-casualty insurance industry has two features that make it ideal for testing this hypothesis: (1) the main losses for insurers are exogenous events like hurricanes that provide a strong instrument for financial distress; and (2) many insurers are organized as mutual companies, which cannot issue stock. Consistent with the importance of capital constraints, stock companies issue new equity following a negative shock, while mutual companies increase the riskiness of their investment portfolios.
  • Access State: Open Access