Sharon Tennyson is Associate Professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University and Editor of the Journal of Consumer Affairs. Her research focuses on the impact of laws and of government regulation on insurance firms, consumers and markets; the organization of insurance markets; consumer behavior in insurance transactions; and consumer protection regulation in insurance and other financial services industries. Her work has been published in economics, insurance, law and finance journals and in prestigious edited collections, and she is a frequent speaker in academic and public policy venues. Dr. Tennyson is a member of the Consumer Education Committee of the Actuarial Foundation, and a former President of the Risk Theory Society. Before coming to Cornell Dr. Tennyson served on the faculty of the Department of Insurance and Risk Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University.
Current Professional Activities:
Dr. Tennyson's current activities are centered on consumer behavior and consumer protections in retail financial markets, especially insurance markets. She is the Editor for Journal of Consumer Affairs. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the Journal of Insurance Regulation, and Insurance Markets and Companies: Analyses and Actuarial Computations. She is a Senior Research Fellow at Networks Financial Institute and a member of the Consumer Financial Education Committee of the Actuarial Foundation.
Current Research Activities:
The design and impact of consumer protection regulations in insurance, credit and other markets; consumers’ insurance decisions; insurance bad faith liability; automobile insurance systems; consumers' use of information in insurance and prescription drug markets; law and economics of women's rights.
Education:
Ph.D., Economics, Northwestern University
B.A., Economics, UCLA
Courses Taught:
PAM 3400 - Economics of Consumer Policy
PAM 3440 - Regulating Financial Institutions
PAM 3240 - Risk Management and Policy
PAM 6350 - Consumers, Information and Regulatory Policy
“The Effect of Prescription Drug Withdrawals on the Use of Competitor Drugs: The Case of Vioxx,” with J. Michael Collins and Kosali Simon, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (forthcoming).
“The Influence of FDA Advisory Information and Black Box Warnings on Individual Use of Prescription Antidepressants,” with Kristy Parkinson, Joseph Price and Kosali Simon, Review of Economics of the Household (forthcoming).
“The Effects of Expanding Property Rights on Women’s Economic Activity,” with R. Richard Geddes and Dean Lueck, Journal of Law and Economics (forthcoming).
“Does the Threat of Insurer Liability for “Bad Faith” Affect Insurance Settlements?” with Danial Asmat, Journal of Risk and Insurance (forthcoming).
“The Impact of Rate Regulation on Claims: Evidence from Massachusetts Automobile Insurance,” with Richard A. Derrig, Risk Management and Insurance Review 14(2) Fall 2011: 173-200.
“Challenges and Approaches to Consumer Protection in the Insurance Industry,” in The Fundamentals of Future Insurance Regulation and Supervision: A Global Perspective, Patrick M. Liedtke and Jan Monkiewicz, editors. Palgrave MacMillon, 2011.
“Incentive Effects of Community Rating in Insurance Markets: Evidence from Massachusetts Automobile Insurance,” Geneva Risk and Insurance Review 35(1) June 2010: 19-46 .
“The Law and Economics of First Party Insurance Bad Faith Liability,” with William J. Warfel, Connecticut Insurance Law Journal 16(1) 2009-2010: 203-242.
“Do State Cost Control Policies Reduce Medicaid Prescription Drug Spending?” with Kosali I. Simon and Julie Hudman, Risk Management and Insurance Review 12(1) Winter 2009: 37-64.
Searchable Keywords: Consumer Policy, Government Regulation, Insurance, Financial Services, Law and Economics
The information on this bio page is taken from the CHE Annual Report.
