The Impact of Risk Culture on Underwriting Risk of Life Insurance Companies in Ghana

Abstract

Purpose _ The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how risk culture influences a firm‘s risk taking and control decisions (Underwriting risk). Design/methodology/approach _ A sample of 90 employees from eighteen life insurance companies in Ghana was used in this Study. The different propositions proposed are formulated using exploratory factor analysis and the ordinary least square regression on a cross- sectional basis. Findings The results obtained show that, excessive controls and checks are in place, which makes firm conservative in risk taking and make workers risk averse in transacting business. Also risk awareness and education is not sufficiently promoted which could affect workers orientation to risk management. In addition, incentives are inadequate to influence workers attitude positively from going beyond rules and regulations to be obeyed. Value/originality_ Risk culture is seen as an important driver of the effectiveness of a risk management framework. The study also provided new empirical evidence on the influence of risk culture variables ( i.e. formality, risk perception, risk focus and decision making) on firm‘s risk taking and control decisions (underwriting risk). Keywords: Risk culture, Organisational culture, risk management, underwriting risk.