Volume 86, Number 1-2, June 2019

FR:

Cet article a pour objectif de faire une synthèse de la littérature pour les managers, les chercheurs et les praticiens sur les fondements, les déterminants et les résultats de la mise en oeuvre d’une politique de management des risques sur la performance. Pour atteindre cet objectif, l’article est subdivisé en trois parties. La première présente les fondements de la gestion des risques dans le contexte de la théorie des firmes, la deuxième donne les principaux déterminants du management du risque et, pour terminer, la troisième fait un état de l’art des études empiriques sur l’influence du management du risque sur la performance des entreprises non financières.

EN:

The aim of this article is to summarize the literature for managers, researchers and practitioners on the foundations, determinants and results of the implementation of a risk management policy on performance. To achieve this goal, the article is subdivided into three parts. The first presents the fundamentals of risk management in the context of firm theory, the second provides the main determinants of risk management, and the third concludes with a state-of-the-art of empirical studies on risk management and its influence on the performance of non-financial companies.

FR:

Cet article analyse le statut du principe de précaution comme un principe de gestion de l’incertitude scientifique. Depuis quelques années, cette nouvelle référence normative est apparue dans le champ de l’environnement. Il a commencé à être reconnu par le droit international et par le droit interne. Ce texte présente les fondements du principe de précaution et discute ses limites majeures, tant juridiques que pratiques. Il met en avant certains avantages qu’il y aurait à développer des analyses, incluant plus de transparence dans les décisions de prévention et une meilleure évaluation de leur efficacité. Il suggère que les pratiques courantes de gestion des risques, assurance, ne sont pas toujours efficaces. Il explique la tension qui existe entre un système de prévention plus efficace et un système plus équitable. Il aborde les questions de prise en compte du long terme, de l’incertitude scientifique et des perceptions subjectives du risque par les assurances. Dans l’univers scientifiquement controversé, le principe n’a pas vocation à réduire l’incertitude mais au contraire à la porter comme question vivante dans la société. L’enjeu est l’invention de nouvelles procédures collectives dans le cadre desquelles les acteurs sociaux seront amenés à faire face de façon explicite et raisonnable aux situations risquées Godard (2000) et Triech (2001 et 2005).

EN:

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the status of the precautionary principle of scientific and social controversies. This new normative reference has emerged in the recent years on the environmental scene. It is becoming acknowledged by international law and even by some national laws. This paper presents the foundations of the precautionary principle and discusses its main limits, either legal or practical ones. It puts forward some of the advantages from developing it further, including more decision transparency and a better efficiency assessment. It suggests that current practices of risk management and insurance are not always efficient. It explains that there are tensions between the efficiency and equity of prevention systems. It addresses the question of how to deal with the long run, with scientific uncertainties and with subjective risk perceptions by classic insurance. In a controversial scientific environment, the principle cannot be used as a tool for reducing uncertainty but as a way to elicit new collective procedures akin to precaution. The precautionary principle is there to lead social agents to explicitly address risk situations Godard (2000) and Triech (2001 et 2005).

EN:

This article compares and contrasts automobile insurance provisions across Canadian jurisdictions, with particular emphasis on comparing how British Columbia (BC) fares relative to other provinces. A brief discussion of the different automobile insurance regimes is provided, as well as the mandated packages in each province. Price quotes are obtained by jurisdiction for the mandated package as well as for enhanced packages, for a hypothetical driver (either male of female) with a driving record that is good or poor, who is 45 years of age and drives a Honda Civic. We find that prices in Vancouver, BC are in the middle of the pack, and are much lower than in Toronto, Ontario for a driver with a good record. BC average prices are similar to those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Loss ratios vary quite a bit over the period 2011-2015, with no clear pattern except that they are always higher in public regimes than private ones. Because these ratios fluctuate from year to year, no one single province has performed consistently or significantly better than the others. One must be very careful when drawing hard and fast conclusions because of the differences in insurance packages across provinces and the aggregated and limited nature of much of the available data. Four conclusions are notable: (i) Automobile prices charged in BC are in line with those of Manitoba, (ii) a driver in Vancouver pays significantly less than an otherwise comparable driver in Toronto, (iii) in the private system, Ontario has the lowest loss ratios while, in the public system, there is no discernable, stable, relationship across the jurisdictions, and (iv) average claim costs cannot be compared across regimes.