The basic function of insurance is the original and inherent function of insurance. There are two main views on the basic function of insurance. One view is that the basic function of insurance is to share losses and compensate losses or pay insurance money; Another view is that the basic functions of insurance are economic compensation and insurance payment.

The function of economic compensation is to make compensation according to the actual loss amount of the insured subject matter according to the insurance contract after the insured accident and loss occurs, which is the basic function of property insurance;

The function of insurance payment is that when an insurance accident occurs, both parties pay according to the insurance amount agreed in the insurance contract, which is the function of life insurance.

(B) the derivative function of insurance

The derivative function of insurance is a function based on the basic function. The derivative functions of insurance are financing function and loss prevention function.

Disaster prevention and loss prevention is an important content of risk management. The biggest feature of insurance disaster prevention and loss prevention work is to actively participate in and cooperate with other disaster prevention and loss prevention departments to expand disaster prevention and loss prevention work. Insurance disaster prevention and loss prevention work is reflected in: from underwriting to claim settlement to fulfill social responsibility; Increase the income of insurance business; Promote the insured's awareness of risk management, thus strengthening disaster prevention and loss prevention.

The financing function of insurance is that the insurer participates in social financing. It is embodied in two aspects: on the one hand, it has the function of raising funds; On the other hand, through the purchase of securities, real estate and other investment methods to reflect the investment function.

(C) the macro role of insurance

The macro function of insurance is the economic effect of insurance on the whole society and national economy. The specific performance is as follows:

(1) is conducive to the sustained and stable development of the national economy.

(2) It is conducive to the popularization and application of science and technology.

(3) Conducive to social stability.

(four) is conducive to foreign trade and international exchanges, and promote the balance of payments.

(D) Micro-role of insurance

The role of commercial insurance in microeconomics refers to the economic effect produced by insurance as a financial treatment means for risk management of economic units or individuals. Generally speaking, the micro-function of insurance is manifested in the following aspects:

(1) Insurance helps enterprises to resume their operations in time and stabilize their income.

(2) It is beneficial for enterprises to strengthen economic accounting.

(3) Promote enterprises to strengthen risk management.

(4) it is conducive to stabilizing people's lives.

(5) Improve the credit of enterprises and individuals. Published in: Insurance Practitioner Examination _ Examination Editor: Self-revision.

Turn:

Social management function of commercial insurance

Social management in a broad sense refers to the management of all social activities, including political management, economic management and social and cultural life management. Social management in a narrow sense mainly refers to the management of social order, population, environment, social security, social welfare and social services. From the experience of foreign developed countries, the narrow sense of social management functions is mainly completed by the government and the third sector (mainly intermediary organizations), but enterprises also undertake some social management functions under certain conditions. Practice shows that the social management function of commercial insurance is the product of the development of commercial insurance to a certain stage and the sublimation of its function. From the economic point of view, the social management function of commercial insurance is the positive externality generated by the development of commercial insurance at a certain stage. This externality is realized by providing effective products and services to the society in the process of the insurer's pursuit of profits, and it is the "spillover" of its operating results to the society. Specifically, the social management function of commercial insurance is mainly manifested in the following aspects:

First, commercial insurance is the stabilizer of social and economic development.

1. Commercial insurance provides compensation and compensation for economic losses, helps the insured to restore the order of production and life as soon as possible, ensures the smooth progress of social reproduction, and is conducive to social stability. In social reproduction and people's daily life, all kinds of natural and man-made disasters cannot be completely avoided. By paying a small amount of premium, the insured can convert the uncertain losses in the future into certain current expenses; Commercial insurance companies realize the loss compensation for the insured by establishing insurance funds, thus giving play to the social stabilizer function of commercial insurance. It can be said that commercial insurance is a market-oriented risk transfer and social mutual assistance system, which realizes the effective allocation of resources through the market and has inherent high efficiency.

2. Commercial insurance shares the social security function of the government and participates in building a strong social security network. From the experience of foreign countries, establishing a multi-level social security system is the goal pursued by the government. For example, in the United States, there are generally three levels of protection: protection provided by the government; Protection provided by enterprises (employers) and self-protection provided by individuals; These three security levels provide a solid safety net for the society. In these three levels of protection, the protection provided by enterprises (employers) and the self-protection provided by individuals are directly operated by commercial insurance, which has fully penetrated into the field of social security.

3. The development of commercial insurance directly provides considerable jobs for the society and helps to alleviate the employment pressure. As far as China is concerned, the number of employees in the insurance industry has reached more than 654.38+500,000, accounting for 40% of the jobs provided by the entire financial industry, including about 800,000 jobs for laid-off workers.

Second, commercial insurance is a booster for social and economic development.

1. Commercial insurance accelerates the transformation from savings to investment and promotes economic growth. There is a positive correlation between savings rate and economic growth rate, but its transmission mechanism exists in many aspects. As one of the financial intermediaries, commercial insurance has three advantages in improving the efficiency of financial intermediaries: first, it reduces the transaction costs of borrowers and lenders; The second is to create liquidity; Third, it is conducive to the formation of economies of scale for investment. Insurance companies attract and accumulate social idle funds by selling commercial insurance products and other channels, prompting social funds to flow from various industries to commercial insurance companies and dispersing the financial risks brought by excessive concentration of residents' savings in banks. The funds of commercial insurance companies, especially life insurance companies, have the characteristics of large scale and long term, and become one of the sources of long-term funds for the government and enterprises.

2. Commercial insurance promotes the circulation and consumption of commodities. Commodities must be exchanged in the circulation process before they can enter the fields of production, consumption and daily consumption. Under the condition of contemporary credit economy, both parties to the transaction inevitably have credit risks. Commercial insurance can provide credit insurance and performance guarantee insurance for the parties, avoid transaction risks, and thus promote commodity circulation. In the field of consumption, commercial insurance accelerates consumers' recognition of new products and eliminates consumers' concerns by providing quality liability insurance for products. On the one hand, it promotes the development of new products, on the other hand, it promotes consumption.

3. Commercial insurance is conducive to promoting the transformation of science and technology into real productive forces. "Science and technology are the primary productive forces", and the use of high-tech is obviously more productive than the use of backward technology. The competition between countries and enterprises tends to be high-tech competition. However, every link of high-tech from research, development and use is full of variables, which makes the parties bear great risks; Commercial insurance can protect the risks in all aspects of high-tech research, development and use, and escort the transformation of high-tech into real productive forces.

Third, commercial insurance is the lubricant of social operation.

1, coordinate social contradictions and reduce social friction. Various contradictions often appear in the normal operation of society, so society needs a mechanism that can eliminate contradictions and frictions between subjects, reduce conflicts, establish a good order and ensure the normal operation of society. Commercial insurance participates in the management of social relations by providing various commercial liability insurance, credit insurance and guarantee insurance. Once the insured has a liability accident, it can be solved by the insurer without relying too much on the government and legal proceedings, thus reducing the social operation cost. Thus, it gradually changed the behavior pattern of social subjects, created favorable conditions for maintaining normal and orderly social relations among governments, enterprises and individuals, reduced social friction, played the role of social lubricant, and greatly improved the efficiency of social operation.

2. The benign operation of the social system needs the coordination of all aspects of the social system. Among them, the coordination of social dynamic mechanism and social stability mechanism is very important, and commercial insurance plays the role of social adjustment and stability mechanism. As a kind of social compensation and service, it can protect the weak in competition to a certain extent, give the losers a chance to breathe and adjust, and make them make a comeback, thus reducing the possibility of social unrest caused by social psychological imbalance; As a social mutual aid system, because it transforms social mutual aid behavior into an obligation norm, it can enhance the mutual aid consciousness and social responsibility between people, organizations and regions, and between social members and organizations, thus promoting the benign operation of the social system on the basis of coordination.

Fourth, commercial insurance is a social shock absorber.

1. Commercial insurance can effectively reduce the frequency of disasters and accidents and social losses by participating in social risk management. On the one hand, insurance companies have the motivation to promote the effectiveness of social risk management from the perspective of maximizing their own interests. Reducing the loss of disasters and accidents can correspondingly reduce the payment of insurance money and enhance its profitability; On the other hand, insurance companies have the advantage of participating in social risk management. Insurance companies have accumulated rich experience in disaster prevention and loss prevention by mastering the statistical data of risk accidents, analyzing and studying the causes of disasters and accidents, from underwriting, setting rates to settling claims. Therefore, insurance companies will promote the effectiveness of social risk management and reduce social losses through various effective ways.

2. Reduce the impact of catastrophe accidents on society through catastrophe insurance. With the development of socialized mass production and the increasing concentration of human wealth, major catastrophic accidents such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, major fires, passenger plane crashes and terrorist attacks have occurred from time to time; The September 1 1 incident in the United States caused direct and indirect economic losses of about $82 billion to new york, and the compensation from insurance companies exceeded $40 billion, which was much higher than the federal government's allocation of $20 billion for post-disaster reconstruction, laying a material foundation for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction in new york. Without the intervention of commercial insurance, terrorist attacks will push new york into the abyss of invulnerability. In contrast, in recent years, there have been many serious accidents in China, causing heavy casualties and property losses; Due to the lack of commercial insurance, the property of the parties is far from enough to bear civil liability for compensation. In order to maintain the stability of the overall social situation, the government has no choice but to pay all the losses, which on the one hand increases the huge financial pressure of the government, on the other hand leads to the imbalance of rights and obligations of all parties; As a result, there has been an embarrassing situation of "the boss makes money and the government sends out mourning". With the intervention of commercial insurance companies, a reasonable risk sharing mechanism has been established among social members, the government and insurance institutions. This can alleviate the financial pressure of the country to a great extent, change the situation that the compensation for catastrophe losses is too dependent on government finance, and change the situation that the compensation is seriously insufficient and the economic losses of the affected people cannot be compensated in time and effectively.

Further reading: How to buy insurance, which is good, and teach you how to avoid these "pits" of insurance.