We investigate the influence of institutional factors upon life insurance demand for 32 European countries, considering the sociodemographic and economic determinants as control variables. Using a panel data approach, we find that life insurance demand is influenced differently by institutional indicators from the Worldwide Governance Indicators database, in emerging and transition markets compared to developed ones. The sound legal environment of developed countries, where the level of the rule of law is very homogeneous and very high, makes it non-significant for life insurance demand. For developing countries the enforceability of contracts, the independence of justice and the time efficiency of the judicial process positively influence the decision of citizens to buy life insurance contracts. The effect of income distribution over life insurance density varies across these two categories of countries. For transition and emerging markets we find a positive relationship between life insurance density, income distribution and level of urbanisation. In developed countries, because of the high levels of income, life insurance became a common good, not a luxury one, which makes income distribution an insignificant factor. For emerging and transition countries policymakers should concentrate more on strengthening trust in the insurance sector for reducing the gap with developed countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every facet of life globally. Business and commerce are key areas where the monetary crunch has been acutely felt. This study aims to analyze the various key changes in entities' activities to evaluate the level of business performance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, we use panel data analysis on 218 Romanian listed companies of different sizes (big and small) and belonging to different business sectors for the period June 30, 2019-June 30, 2020. We find that the net profits of the overall market decreased by 37.43% over the analyzed period. However, small companies engaged in agriculture, commerce, construction, IT R&D, and transport and storage witnessed better financial performance. In addition, our results show that equity financing, proper liquidity management, and an increased company size consolidate the economic performance of entities regarding return on equity and return on assets. Our findings are useful for policymakers such as managers and investors and can help them make the best decision for their managing or investing activities. Moreover, governments need to know how companies respond to the pandemic to identify the sectors of activity that are more vulnerable to the crisis' effects and the main financial management decisions that must be adopted by companies during times of crises.
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