The actuary as fallen hero: on the reform of a profession

David Collins, Ian Dewing and Peter Russell
Additional contact information
David Collins: University of Essex, dscdlin@essex.ac.uk
Ian Dewing: University of East Anglia, i.dewing@uea.ac.uk
Peter Russell: University of East Anglia, p.o.russell@ueq.ac.uk

Work, Employment & Society, 2009, vol. 23, issue 2, 249-266

Abstract: This article investigates reform of the actuarial profession following the establishment of the UK Financial Services Authority and as a result of the problems emerging at the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Perceptions on changes to the role of life actuaries are explored using interviews with senior actuaries and accountants. The study complements the few existing academic analyses of actuaries and yet challenges these analyses inasmuch as it locates actuarial work within a broader sociological frame. Thus, the article views the actuarial profession not as a simple collection of traits but as a dynamic socio-historical project that reflects and projects professional knowledge claims.The article concludes that the imposed reforms have rescued the actuarial profession from its failure to reform itself, at least in the short term. The main price to be paid is that regulation of the actuarial profession is firmly locked into the regulatory structures of the accountancy profession.

Keywords: accountancy profession; actuarial profession; economic change; insurance; regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:23:y:2009:i:2:p:249-266

DOI: 10.1177/0950017009102857

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