The Impact of Market Concentration on Insurance Penetration Rate: Panel Data Approach

Abstract

The insurance industry is considered as one of the indicators of development, and as a major economic institution that supports the activities of other institutions. Therefore, the structure, operation, and efficiency of the country's insurance market play a significant role in the growth and development of the industry as well as the growth and development of the economy. Considering the importance and impact of market structure on the performance of the insurance industry, this study examines the degree of concentration in the Iranian and selected countries' insurance market, and its impact on insurance penetration rate for the period 2011-2018. The Herfindahl-Hirschman index is used to measure the concentration and determine the structure of the insurance market. Then, the indicators of economic freedom, per capita income, and financial development are used as mediating variables. The relationships between variables are examined by the method of analysis of integrated patterns and using a combination of cross-sectional data and time series. The results show that the market concentration index has a negative and significant relationship with the insurance penetration rate in the selected countries. In addition, the positive and significant impact of per capita income and financial development on insurance penetration is confirmed. However, the results do not show a significant relationship between the index of economic freedom and insurance penetration in the selected countries.