The Structure of the Global Reinsurance Market : An Analysis of Efficiency, Scale, and Scope

We estimate economies of scale and scope as well as cost efficiency to explain the structure of the global reinsurance market, where large reinsurers dominate, but both diversified and specialized reinsurers play important roles. The costs and benefits of size and product diversification play significant roles in the reinsurance industry as risk diversification is at the heart of the industry's business model. We find that reinsurers with total assets less than USD 2.9 billion exhibit scale economies, while those with total assets greater than USD 15.5 billion do not. Large reinsurers are characterized by high cost efficiency; small reinsurers exhibit superior efficiency only when they are specialized. The evidence is in line with the efficient structure hypothesis and suggests an optimal size range for reinsurance firms from which the current market structure results