New Influenza Study Results from University of Auckland Described (Risk Management In Deadly Times: the Us Life Insurance Industry In the 1918-9 Influenza Pandemic): Influenza

2026 AUG 20 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Influenza. According to news reporting out of Auckland, New Zealand, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Using a novel, hand-collected dataset of U.S. life insurance companies during the influenza pandemic of 1918-9, we show that high-exposure life insurers charged higher prices on new policies vis-& agrave;-vis less exposed firms. Although the disease surprisingly increased the mortality rates among younger adults, it also increased awareness of the importance of life insurance.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Auckland, “We argue that price increases were a crucial risk management tool. Coupled with a surge in demand and coverage, it prevented further financial distress.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Although devastating for public health, the influenza pandemic was not too severe for the life insurance industry.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Risk Management In Deadly Times: the Us Life Insurance Industry In the 1918-9 Influenza Pandemic. The Economic History Review, 2025;78(4):1202-1230. The Economic History Review can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Gertjan Verdickt, University of Auckland, Dept. of Accounting and Finance, Auckland, New Zealand.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.13389. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)