Sharon Tennyson Information Biography Biographical Statement Web Bio 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. Professional 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 Public Policy and Marketing, the Journal of Insurance Regulation, and Insurance Markets and Companies: Analyses and Actuarial Computations. She is a Research Fellow at Networks Financial Institute. Research Current Research Activities The design and impact of consumer protection regulations in insurance markets and credit card markets; consumers’ insurance literacy; insurance bad faith liability; automobile insurance regulation; consumers' use of information in insurance and prescription drug markets; law and economics of women's rights. Extension Education Education Ph.D., Economics, Northwestern University B.A., Economics, UCLA Courses 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 Websites Related Websites tennyson.human.cornell.edu Journal of Consumer Affairs Administration Publications Selected Publications “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. “The Effects of Regulated Premium Subsidies on Insurance Costs: An Empirical Analysis of Automobile Insurance,” with Laureen Regan and Mary A.Weiss, Journal of Risk and Insurance 77(3) June 2010: 597-624. “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 Vol. 15, No. 1, 2010. [p a p e r] "State Prescription Drug Policies, Cost Barriers and the Use of Acute Care Services by Medicaid Beneficiaries," with Hae Kyung Yang, Journal of Consumer Affairs Vol. 43, No. 1, 2009. [p a p e r] "Moral, Social and Economic Dimensions of Insurance Claims Fraud," Social "Moral, Social and Economic Dimensions of Insurance Claims Fraud," Social Research Vol 75, No. 4, 2008.[p a p e r] Efficiency Consequences of Insurance Rate Regulation, Policy Brief 2007-PB-03 Networks Financial Institute (www.networksfinancialinstitute.org), 2007. "Automobile Insurance Regulation: The Massachusetts Experience," with Laureen Regan and Mary A. Weiss, in J. David Cummins, ed., Deregulating Property-Liability Insurance: Restoring Competition and Increasing Market Efficiency, Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute-Brookings Institution Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, 2002. [ c h a p t e r] "Insurance Distribution Systems," with Laureen Regan, in Georges Dionne, ed., Handbook of Insurance, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000. “Economic Institutions and Individual Ethics: A Study of Consumer Attitudes Toward Insurance Fraud,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 30(2) February 1997: 247-266. “Controlling Automobile Insurance Costs,” with J. David Cummins, Journal of Economic Perspectives 6(2) Spring 1992: 95-115.