Rationality at the Eve of Destruction: Insurance Stocks and Huge Catastrophic Events

Kleidt Benjamin, Schiereck Dirk and Sigl-Grueb Christof
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Kleidt Benjamin: European Business School
Schiereck Dirk: Technische Universität Darmstadt
Sigl-Grueb Christof: European Business School

Journal of Business Valuation and Economic Loss Analysis, 2009, vol. 4, issue 2, 27

Abstract: We study the valuation impact on 148 insurance stocks caused by 25 of the largest catastrophic events that occurred in recent history. Because of their exceptional severity and the consequent high attention they experience in the media we expect to find significant overreactions of insurance stocks relative to the market, which would be in-line with an availability bias known from the behavioral finance literature. However, we have to realize that insurance stock investors behave not less rational than the market does under these conditions. A clear exception to this are the 9/11 terror attacks. In general we find that insurance stocks adjust gradually to a new valuation level.

Keywords: catastrophic events; capital market efficiency; insurance stocks; overreaction; event study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.2202/1932-9156.1038

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