UK Actuarial Profession: Calls for Research
Funding for long term care
The Actuarial Profession is undertaking a thought leadership research project on funding for long term care. The Profession has issued a call for research relating to an in-depth review of the international literature in the area of long term care and the various means of funding it, including an analysis of any gaps in topics relating to long term care in the published or publicly available material. Countries to be covered should include at least Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, UK and US.
Applicants should submit a detailed proposal by 8th July 2011.
For more information and details of how to submit an application, see http://www.actuaries.org.uk/research-and-resources/pages/call-proposals….
'Limits to growth' on financial markets
The Actuarial Profession has also invited research proposals on the topic of the effects of ‘limits to growth’ on financial markets and consequential impacts on actuarial advice.
By 2050 or so, the human population is expected to reach nine billion, essentially adding two Chinas to the number of people alive today (and may hit 10.1bn by the year 2100 according to a recent United nations projection). Economic growth is seen as being a pre-requisite for the well-being of this increased global population. The World Bank projects (World Bank, The Road to 2050) a 385% increase in global GDP by 2050. However, they observe that “ … if subsidies, mis-pricing, and inadequate taxation of environmentally damaging products continue to provide the wrong incentives for consumers and producers in the rich world, and if the developing world emulates the consumption patterns in rich countries, we can expect great damage to the environment and its ability to sustain growth. A major transformation, starting in the rich world, will be needed to decouple growth and environmental impacts and to radically change the composition of the world’s output toward high-input efficiency and environmental responsibility." modelled in the original work.
What is the scope of the research proposal?
The objective of the research is to shed light on the following:
a) What happens if economic growth does not continue, either regionally or globally?
b) What is the risk that resource or environmental constraints will outweigh improving technology and constrain growth, in a timescale relevant to our (and an actuaries’ clients) generation?
c) Investigate further the relationships between capital (financial and human), complexity, energy, money and GDP from a macro-economic perspective.
d) What would financial markets look like in a prolonged period with the absence of economic growth?
Applicants are invited by 12th August 2011.
For more information and details of how to submit an application, see http://www.actuaries.org.uk/research-and-resources/pages/call-proposals….