Spotlight on industry branches: The insurance industry

For more than ten years, the Ifo Institute has conducted a quarterly survey of German insurance companies to determine their business climate. The development of the business climate for the insurance sector has proven to be a reflection of economic situation in the sector. Changes in insurance regulations, the effects of the recent banking and economic crisis and also the impact of major disasters on the claims experience in damage and accident insurance have always been reflected in the business climate of the insurance sector. This would seem to be self-evident, but the details can reveal very interesting connections. Michael Wolgast and Walter Buttenböck of the German Insurance Association show how the survey respondents react in individual cases to changed conditions in their assessment of their current business situation and how strong the reaction is to certain events in their appraisals of the business outlook.