Two Theses from the Institute Honored with the Hamburg Excellence Award

Two theses written at the Institute for Risk Management and Insurance were honored last week with an Excellence Award from the Hamburg Insurance Science Promotion Association (VFVH).

Julia Holzapfel, former research assistant at the institute, received the award for her dissertation “Essays on Information Asymmetries and Risk Classification in Insurance”, in which she examines how new technologies that enable insurers to classify risks more accurately are affecting insurance markets. The dissertation pays particular attention to the economic implications of regulatory intervention. In addition, it seeks to explain why innovative products such as telematics contracts in motor insurance have often fallen short of expectations in the past.

Sebastian Schuller, former bachelor's student and student assistant at the institute, was honored for his bachelor's thesis “Charity Hazard – The Effect of Government Compensation on Insurance Demand”. In the thesis, he analyzes theoretical, empirical, and experimental studies on charity hazard and discusses the possible causes for different or contradictory results. In addition, he systematically examines various proposed solutions to the charity hazard.

Every year, the VFVH honors outstanding and exceptional work related to the insurance industry. The call for submissions covers five categories: doctoral theses, master’s theses, bachelor’s theses, innovative ideas from practice, and media coverage/public relations. Awards are given to works that address an insurance-specific topic in an outstanding way and, through their practical relevance, contribute to the creation of new products or to the improvement of existing ones and their processes. The awards ceremony took place during a festive evening event in Hamburg.

Link to the VFVH Press Release