This paper e.rtends the study of the relative COSI efficiency of insurunce deliven systems from the p r i m a n market to the murket for non-life reinsurcince senices. As in the primur?, murket fi)r insurance services there are two predominunt methods of marketing rein-.surance services: reinsurers who rely on employees. termed direct uriters. and those who rely on brokers.An estensive literuture reluting to the prim a n market f o r non-lije insurance consisteritly indicates that independent agency insurers have a cost disadrvmtuge relative to exclu.viise agency insurers. This literature also suggests that independent agency insurers may supply superior service but a continuing erosion of the market share of independent agency insurers suggests that the perceived service differential is not valued sufficiently to offset the perceived cost d$ferentiul.The authors find evidence that. cet. pax, broker supplied reinsurers operute with lower costs than direct reinsurers but we find less convincing evidence of ci service differential f b wing direct reinsurers. More .significantly9 we observe that the largest component of the truditional measure ofthe reinsurer j. cost is the commission puid back to the primary insurer; the .seeming!\. lower cost brokers provide a higher net cost product. Yet brokers thrive in the mnrketplace suggesting the e.ristence of a product diffrentiuted by service or yuulity. With the important cuvent thnt mea.siire.s of ser-,ice are imperfect nnd datu is limited, LveJind no evidence ($a seiTice d@erential.
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