Investigating the growth factors of life insurance sector - an ARDL approach

Insurance sector is considered a significant contributor to the economic growth of economies across the world. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting growth potentials of life insurance sector in India. ARDL technique is used to investigate short-run and long-run relationships between life insurance sector growth represented by life insurance penetration and 13 independent variables under macro-economic, demographic and socio-cultural category using time series data from 1980-2018. The ARDL bounds testing procedure was used to check for co-integration. The study found that gross domestic product per capita, interest rate (deposit), young dependency ratio, gross capital formation, and education are significantly influencing life insurance sector growth in the long run. The short-run error correction model revealed speed of adjustment at 0.80 at 1% level of significance. The findings may help favourable policy formulation to support the life insurance sector growth in India.