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Thünen-Series of Applied Economic Theory Thünen-Reihe Angewandter Volkswirtschaftstheorie Working Paper No. 34 Agent and Broker Intermediaries in Insurance Markets – An Empirical Analysis of Market Outcomes von Martina Eckardt Universität Rostock Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät Lehrstuhl für Volkswirtschaftslehre 2002 Agent and Broker Intermediaries in Insurance Markets – 1 An Empirical Analysis of Market Outcomes von Martina Eckardt Abstract: Insurance markets are characterized by profound market imperfections. Insurance intermedi- aries reduce transaction costs and information asymmetries. From transaction cost econom- ics, agency theory, and law and economics literature the hypothesis is derived that insurance brokers may provide more high-quality information and advisory services which are better suited for the needs of the consumers than insurance agents. Empirical tests for German in- surance intermediaries confirm this thesis. But there are also findings that structural factors like firm size, employment structure and degree of specialization may outweigh the incentives set by different legal settings. JEL-classification: D82, G140, G220, L15 1 Paper presented at the 6th annual meeting of the International Society for New Institutional Economics, Cam- bridge/Mass., September 27-29, 2002. I’d like to thank Annette van den Berg, Wolfgang Kerber, Doris Neu- berger, Roland Speklé, and the discussants of the Workshop on Institutional Analysis held by ISNIE-Europe in Barcelona, Ju