| The extent and detail of state regulatory control over the auto insurance industry has created a heated debate. In today's insurance environment proponents of extensive rate regulation support the notion that regulation protects the insured from the big insurance companies. Opponents of strict rate regulation believe that the market place should determine the price of insurance.; This thesis evaluates alternative types of auto rate regulation and estimates their effects on premiums, insurer loss ratios and the number of uninsured motorists by conducting a Generalized Least Squares Regression analysis. The study uses pooled time-series data. The time series varies over a ten-year period from 1987 to 1997, and the cross-sectional data includes all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Overall, my results are consistent with the findings of previous studies that found rate regulation does have an effect on premiums, the financial health of insurance companies and the number of uninsured motorists in the marketplace. |
