We empirically examine the effect of local religious beliefs on the risk-taking behaviour of U.S. life insurers headquartered in that region. We distinguish between insurers that predominantly write annuities and insurers that predominantly write life insurance policies; the annuity business is relatively riskier than writing life insurance. Insurers headquartered in high-Catholic or low-Protestant areas are more likely to be annuity writers. Annuity writers located in high-Catholic or low-Protestant areas invest more in risky assets and exhibit higher investment return volatilities, as well as a higher volatility of their return on assets. Overall, our results suggest that local culture has significant influences on life insurers’ behaviour.

我们实证研究了当地宗教信仰对总部设在该地区的美国寿险公司冒险行为的影响。我们区分主要承保年金的保险公司和主要承保人寿保险单的保险公司；年金业务比写人寿保险风险更大。总部位于高天主教或低新教地区的保险公司更有可能成为年金作者。年金作家位于高- 天主教或低-新教地区对风险资产的投资较多，投资回报波动较大，资产回报波动较大。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，当地文化对寿险公司的行为有显着影响。