Table 3

GMM estimations of the effect of ESG controversies on insurers’ insolvency risk (distance to default in logarithms)

VariablesModel 1Model 2Model 3Model 4
Insolvency riskt-10.4330***0.4513***0.4517***0.5060***
ESG controversiest-1 0.0102*0.0086*0.0120**
ESG practicest-1  −0.0169***−0.0192**
ESG controversiest-1x ESG practicest-1   −0.0002*
Reinsurancet-12.5704***1.18071.2370−0.5787
Premium growtht-10.01700.02370.23350.3860
Equity growtht-1−1.3302***−1.2552**−0.8163*0.1262
Leveraget-1−0.0039−0.0252**0.01680.0101
Firm sizet-1−0.039−0.0993−0.00530.0038
Inflation0.01330.00330.0133−0.0038
HHI0.01740.06320.0682*0.0517*
GDP growth−0.0538***−0.0345*−0.0149−0.0453**
Activity dummyYesYesYesYes
Region dummyYesYesYesYes
Year dummyYesYesYesYes
m1−6.38−6.41−5.34−5.17
m20.330.350.18−0.18
Hansen86.94(79)71.58(72)74.74(82)87.93(97)
Observations1,2711,2711,2711,271
Number of firms120120120120

Note(s): This table presents the determinants of the Insolvency risk for 120 North American, Canadian, Bermuda, and European insurance issuers from 2011 to 2022 using the system-GMM estimation. Insolvency risk is the neperian logarithm of Z-score multiplied by minus one; ESG controversies is ESG controversies score from Eikon multiplied by minus one; ESG practices is the ESG Score from Eikon; Reinsurance is the ratio of reinsurance premiums paid to total premiums earned; Premium growth is the annual growth of total premiums. Equity growth is the annual growth of total equity; Leverage is the debt to equity ratio; Firm size is the logarithm of total assets; Inflation is the annual inflation rate; HHI is the Herfindahl–Hirschman index calculated as the sum of the squares of all insurance companies’ market share in terms of premiums written, and GDP growth is the annual real GDP growth rate. Significance levels are indicated as follows ***, **, and *: significant at the 1, 5, and 10 percent level. mi is a serial correlation test of order i using residuals in first differences, asymptotically distributed as N(0,1) under the null hypothesis of no serial correlation. Hansen is a test of the overidentifying restrictions, asymptotically distributed as χ2 under the null hypothesis of no correlation between the instruments and the error term, with degrees of freedom in parentheses

Source(s): Table by authors

or Create an Account

Close Modal
Close Modal