J. David Cummins Faculty Profile

J. David Cummins
Harry J. Loman Professor Emeritus of Insurance and Risk Management

PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 1972; MA, University of Pennsylvania, 1971; BA, University of Nebraska, 1968

Research Areas
Insurance economics; financial risk management, productivity and efficiency; securitization

Recent Consulting
Bermuda Insurance Development Council, evaluation of the Bermuda insurance and reinsurance markets, 2006-present; American Insurance Association, analysis of broker compensation including an economic evaluation of contingent commissions, 2005; Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association, evaluation of cost of capital and fair rate of return for property insurance, 2005-present; Estimation of cost of capital for property-liability insurance companies – Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, 1989-1995, Metropolitan Property-Casualty Insurance Company, 2003-present, Allstate Insurance Group, 2004-2005

Current Projects
Productivity and efficiency analysis of insurance firms; operational risk in insurance and banking; arbitrage-free pricing of insurance contracts; financing of catastrophic risk.

Academic Positions Held
Wharton: 1973-present (Executive Director, S.S. Huebner Foundation 1988-2006; named Harry J. Loman Professor, 1983; Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center, 1996-present; Senior Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center, 1996-present; Associate Director, S.S. Huebner Foundation, 1980-88; Research Director, S.S. Huebner Foundation, 1975-80). Visiting appointments: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, University of South Carolina, Georgia State University

Career and Recent Professional Awards; Teaching Awards
(5) Alpha Kappa Psi Spangler Awards, best article, Journal of Risk and Insurance; (4) Robert I. Mehr best article awards, American Risk and Insurance Association; (8) Best feature article awards, Journal of Risk and Insurance; Journal of Financial Intermediation best article of year 2000 award; (2) Casualty Acturial Society prizes for best article in Journal of Risk and Insurance; Brian Hey Prize for best financial paper, Institute of Actuaries; First Prize, Best Financial Paper, Centennial Meeting of the International Acturial Association

Professional Leadership 2003-2007
Co-Editor, Journal of Banking and Finance, 2000-present; Associate Editor, Journal of Risk and Insurance, 1998-present; Associate Editor, Journal of Financial Services Research, 1989-present; Associate Editor, Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, 1994-present; Associate Editor, Journal of Actuarial Practice, 1994-present; Advisory Board, Financial Economics Network Corporate Finance Journals, 1998-present; Associate Editor, Journal of Risk Finance, 1999-present; Associate Editor, Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance: Issues and Practices, 1998-present

Representative Publications
(with M. Rubio-Misas)
“Deregulation, Consolidation, and Efficiency: Evidence from the Spanish Insurance Industry.” Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking (2006).

Co-editor (with B. Venard)
Handbook of International Insurance: Between Global Dynamics and Local Contingencies. Springer, 2006.

“Should the Government Provide Insurance for Catastrophes?” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review (2006).

(with D. Lalonde and R. Phillips)
"The Basis Risk of Index Linked Catastrophic Loss Securities." Journal of Financial Economics (2004).