PhD in Insurance Economics and Actuarial Analytics
Ph.D. in Insurance Economics and Actuarial Analytics
WISCONSIN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
RISK & INSURANCE DEPARTMENT
Contribute to innovative research with world renowned faculty
Ph.D. Study & Placement
The Wisconsin Ph.D. Program offered by the Department of Risk and Insurance focuses on our core areas of research in insurance economics, actuarial science, risk management, and applied econometrics/statistics.
Program Structure
Full funding typically available Core courses include microeconomics, econometrics sequence, panel data analysis, and seminar courses
Additional coursework customized to individual background and research interests
Access to applied, data -driven research
Ph.D. earned following a completed dissertation, typically in fifth year
Academic Requirements
BA in business, actuarial science, economics, statistics, or related field
Strong math background: coursework in multivariate calculus, linear algebra strongly encouraged Research and/or work experience in area of interest within actuarial science, risk management, or insurance valued
Ph.D. Placements over Past 5 Years Include: St. John’s University University of Waterloo
University of Illinois Urbana -Champaign Tsinghua University
Appalachian State University
University of Alabama
Research Highlights
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is one of the world’s great research and teaching institutions, with the Risk and Insurance Department faculty being strong contributors to this reputation.
Select publications in top-tier Journals:
Nan Zhu, Daniel Bauer (2022). “Modeling the Risk in Mortality Projections.” Operations Research, 70(4), 2069-2084. Zarek Brot-Goldberg, Zack Cooper, Stuart Craig, Lev Klarnet (2023). “Is There Too Little Antitrust Enforcement in the US Hospital Sector?” American Economic Review: Insights, conditionally accepted.
Yileng Deng, J. Tyler Leverty, Kenny Wunder, George Zanjani (2024). “Market Discipline and Government Guarantees: Evidence from the Insurance Industry.” Journal of Risk and Insurance, forthcoming.
Lucas Goodman, Anita Mukherjee, Shanthi Ramnath (2023). "Set it and Forget it? Financing Retirement in the Age of Defaults." Journal of Financial Economics, 148(1), 47-68.
Philip Mulder, Carolyn Kousky (2023). “Risk Rating without Information Provision.” AEA Papers and Proceedings, 113, 299-303.
Margie Rosenberg, Seulkee Yun, Kyeonghee Kim (2024). “Assessing Oral Health in U.S. Children and Its Impact on Disparities of Overall Health and Health Expenditures: An Application Using Two-Stage Clustering.” North American Actuarial Journal, 1–16.
Aaron Kolb, Marilyn Pease, Daniel W. Sacks, Joshua Quick (2023). “Blind Disclosure.” American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 15(2), 41-79.
Peng Shi, Gee Lee (2022). “Copula Regression for Compound Distributions with Endogenous Covariates with Applications in Insurance Deductible Pricing.” Journal of the American Statistical Association, 117(539), 1094-1109.
Mariana Carrera, Heather Royer, Mark Stehr, Justin Sydnor, Dmitry Taubinsky (2022). “Who Chooses Commitment? Evidence and Welfare Implications.” Review of Economic Studies, 89(3), 1205–1244.
Ying Cao, Yang Wang, John Mullahy, Margarite Burn, Yao Liu, Maureen Smith (2023). “The Relative Importance of Hospital Discharge and Patient Composition in Changing Post-Acute Care Utilization and Outcomes among Medicare Beneficiaries.” Health Services Insights, 16.
World-Renowned Faculty and Their Research Interests
Excellence in research defines what and how we teach, enriches our exchange with industry and policy leaders, and opens unique partnership opportunities among our community.
Specific areas of expertise include:
Applied econometrics, behavioral economics, climate risk, corporate risk management, health analytics, industrial organization of insurance markets, insurance economics, insurance regulation, insurance technology, public policy, quantitative insurance, retirement economics, risk analytics, and social insurance.
Industrial organization of health care and health insurance markets. Employer sponsored health insurance. Business-to-business price setting. Applied econometrics.
J. Tyler Leverty - Associate Professor
Gerald D. Stephens CPCU Chair in Risk Management and Insurance Economics of insurance markets. Insurance company operations. Insurance regulation. Public policy issues in insurance.
Anita Mukherjee - Associate Professor
Richard G. And Julie J. Diermeier Professor in Business Insurance markets. Health, aging, and retirement. Law and economics. Public policy issues in insurance.
Philip Mulder - Assistant Professor
Climate finance. Disaster insurance. Real estate and household finance.
Marjorie Rosenberg FSA - Professor
Assurant Health Professor in Actuarial Science
Applications of statistics and actuarial science to health care outcomes, utilization, expenditures, and policy.
Dan Sacks - Associate Professor
Leslie P. Schultz Professor in Risk Management and Insurance
Social insurance, including Social Security and the Affordable Care Act. Health insurance, moral hazard, and adverse selection. Applied Econometrics. Industrial organization.
Peng Shi ACAS, FSA - Professor
Charles & Laura Albright Professor in Business and Finance
Actuarial risk modeling, Statistical and machine learning in insurance, Analytics for insurance markets and insurance company operations, Alternative risk solutions.
Justin Sydnor - Department Chair
American Family Insurance Distinguished Chair
Psychology and economics. Applied Microeconomics. Behavioral industrial Organization. Insurance markets. Decision-making under risk.
Yang Wang - Associate Professor
Health economics. Applied microeconomics. Health outcomes of public policy. Risky health behaviors. Economics of aging.
A Passionate Community for Inspired Learning
The Risk and Insurance Department aims for depth, breadth, and innovation through academic and extracurricular activities. These activities reach more than 500 students annually.
Academic Programs
BBA Actuarial Science
BBA Risk Management & Insurance
Capstone Certificate in Actuarial Science
MBA Risk Management & Insurance
MS Business Analytics Digital Risk & Insurance Technology Track
Ph.D. Insurance Economics and Actuarial Analytics
Extracurricular Activities
Actuarial Club
Risk Management & Insurance Society
Co-Curricular Learning Board
Innovations and Achievements
Society of Actuaries Center of Actuarial Excellence, Certified for University Earned Credit
Inspired Learning Chair Appointments
Global Center of Insurance Excellence
Home of Creative Destruction Lab Risk and Health/Wellness Tracks
