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{{otherpeople|Michael Powers}}
{{otherpeople|Michael Powers}}
{{infobox person
⚫
'''Michael Roland Powers''' (born November 19, 1959) is the Zurich Insurance Group Chair Professor of Risk Mathematics at [[Tsinghua University]]’s [[Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management|School of Economics and Management]], where he holds a dual appointment as professor at Tsinghua's [[Schwarzman Scholars|Schwarzman College]]. An internationally recognized [[insurance]] scholar, he was a 2011 recipient of China’s ''Qian Ren Ji Hua'' award.<ref>See http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers.</ref> In 2013, he won the Kulp-Wright Book Award for ''Acts of God and Man: Ruminations on Risk and Insurance'' (2012, Columbia University Press).<ref>See http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15366-9/acts-of-god-and-man.</ref>
| name = Michael Roland Powers
| birth_place =
| birth_date = {{birth_date and age|November 19 1959}}
| education = [[Yale University]]<br/>[[Harvard University]]
| occupation = Professor, Statistician, Author
| known_for = Zurich Insurance Group Chair Professor of Finance at [[Tsinghua University]]
}}

⚫
'''Michael Roland Powers''' ({{zh|c=包迈高|p=Bāo Màigāo}}; born November 19, 1959) is an American [[academic]] who is the Chair Professor of [[Finance]] at [[Tsinghua University]]’s [[Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management|School of Economics and Management (SEM)]] in China. Since 2014, he has held a dual appointment as professor at Tsinghua's [[Schwarzman Scholars|Schwarzman College]]. An internationally recognized [[risk]] and [[insurance]] expert, he was a 2011 recipient of China’s [[Thousand Talents Plan]] award. In 2013, he won the Kulp-Wright Book Award for ''Acts of God and Man: Ruminations on Risk and Insurance'' (2012, Columbia University Press).<ref>See http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15366-9/acts-of-god-and-man.</ref>


==Research==
==Research==
Powers has published numerous articles and book chapters on a variety of risk-related topics, with particular focus on issues of government regulation and public policy.<ref>See http://www.scienceofrisk.com/.</ref> His major research contributions include: the introduction of intertemporal discounting into collective risk theory ([[actuarial]] [[ruin theory]]);<ref>Powers, M. R., 1995, "A Theory of Risk, Return, and Solvency," ''Insurance: Mathematics and Economics'', 17, 2, 101-118.</ref> the derivation of the “Powers-Shubik square-root rule” for the approximate number of [[reinsurance]] companies operating in a national insurance market;<ref>Powers, M. R. and Shubik, M., 2006, "A 'Square-Root Rule' for Reinsurance," ''Revista de Contabilidade e Finanças'' (''Review of Accounting and Finance''), 17, 5, 101-107.</ref> and a utility-theoretic solution of the [[Two envelopes problem|Two Envelopes Paradox]].<ref>Powers, M. R., 2015, "Paradox-Proof Utility Functions for Heavy-Tailed Payoffs: Two Instructive Two-Envelope Problems," ''Risks'', 3, 1, 26-34.</ref> A frequent collaborator of the late [[Martin Shubik]], he is responsible for promoting the application of [[game-theoretic]] modeling in [[insurance]] and [[actuarial science]].<ref>See, e.g., Powers, M. R., Shubik, M., and Yao, S. T., 1998, "Insurance Market Games: Scale Effects and Public Policy," ''Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie'' (''Journal of Economics''), 67, 2, 109-134; Powers, M. R. and Shubik, M., 2001, "Toward a Theory of Reinsurance and Retrocession," ''Insurance: Mathematics and Economics'', 29, 2, 271-290; and Powers, M. R., 2007, "Using Aumann-Shapley Values to Allocate Insurance Risk: The Case of Inhomogeneous Losses," ''North American Actuarial Journal'', 11, 3, 113-127.</ref> In ''Acts of God and Man'', he proposes a science of risk based upon: a fundamentalist [[Bayesian probability|Bayesian]] (i.e., subjective/judgmental) approach to modeling uncertainty; a formal distinction between the "aloof" risks of insurance and the "non-aloof" risks of other financial markets; and a personalized [[scientific method]] emphasizing randomized controlled studies, mathematical and game-theoretic modeling, and statistical [[simulation]].<ref>See http://www.scienceofrisk.com/.</ref>
Powers has published numerous scholarly articles on a variety of risk-related topics, with particular focus on issues of government regulation and public policy.<ref>See http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers.</ref> His major research contributions include: the introduction of intertemporal discounting into collective risk theory ([[actuarial]] [[ruin theory]]);<ref>Powers, M. R., 1995, "A Theory of Risk, Return, and Solvency," ''Insurance: Mathematics and Economics'', 17, 2, 101-118.</ref> the derivation of the “Powers-Shubik square-root rule” for the approximate number of [[reinsurance]] companies operating in a national insurance market;<ref>Powers, M. R. and Shubik, M., 2006, "A 'Square-Root Rule' for Reinsurance," ''Revista de Contabilidade e Finanças'' (''Review of Accounting and Finance''), 17, 5, 101-107.</ref> and a utility-theoretic solution of the [[Two envelopes problem|Two Envelopes Paradox]].<ref>Powers, M. R., 2015, "Paradox-Proof Utility Functions for Heavy-Tailed Payoffs: Two Instructive Two-Envelope Problems," ''Risks'', 3, 1, 26-34.</ref> A frequent collaborator of the late [[Martin Shubik]], he is responsible for promoting the application of [[game-theoretic]] modeling in [[insurance]] and [[actuarial science]].<ref>See, e.g., Powers, M. R., Shubik, M., and Yao, S. T., 1998, "Insurance Market Games: Scale Effects and Public Policy," ''Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie'' (''Journal of Economics''), 67, 2, 109-134; Powers, M. R. and Shubik, M., 2001, "Toward a Theory of Reinsurance and Retrocession," ''Insurance: Mathematics and Economics'', 29, 2, 271-290; and Powers, M. R., 2007, "Using Aumann-Shapley Values to Allocate Insurance Risk: The Case of Inhomogeneous Losses," ''North American Actuarial Journal'', 11, 3, 113-127.</ref> In ''Acts of God and Man'', he proposed a science of risk based upon: a fundamentalist [[Bayesian probability|Bayesian]] (i.e., subjective/judgmental) approach to modeling uncertainty; a formal distinction between the "aloof" risks of insurance and the "non-aloof" risks of other financial markets; and a personalized [[scientific method]] emphasizing randomized controlled studies, mathematical and game-theoretic modeling, and statistical [[simulation]].<ref>See http://www.scienceofrisk.com/.</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
Powers was appointed Deputy Insurance Commissioner for the [[Commonwealth of Pennsylvania]] (a sub-cabinet-level post in the state government) in 1987, and subsequently was responsible for designing Pennsylvania’s current “choice” [[no-fault insurance|no-fault]] automobile insurance system.<ref>Powers, M. R., 1992, "Equity in Automobile Insurance: Optional No-Fault," ''Journal of Risk and Insurance'', 59, 2, 203-220.</ref> He joined the faculty of [[Temple University]]’s [[Fox School of Business]] in 1990, and moved to Tsinghua University in 2011. He succeeded Professor [[David Daokui Li]] as chair of Tsinghua’s finance department, serving from 2013 to 2015.
Powers was appointed Deputy Insurance Commissioner for the [[Commonwealth of Pennsylvania]] (a sub-cabinet-level post in the state government) in 1987,<ref>See http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers.</ref> and subsequently was responsible for designing Pennsylvania’s current “choice” [[no-fault insurance|no-fault]] automobile insurance system.<ref>Powers, M. R., 1992, "Equity in Automobile Insurance: Optional No-Fault," ''Journal of Risk and Insurance'', 59, 2, 203-220.</ref> He joined the faculty of [[Temple University]]’s [[Fox School of Business]] in 1990, and moved to Tsinghua University in 2011. In 2013, he succeeded Professor [[David Daokui Li]] as chair of Tsinghua’s finance department, serving in that position until 2015.<ref>See http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers.</ref>


==Books==
==Books==
Line 12: Line 21:
* ''Acts of God and Man: Ruminations on Risk and Insurance'', 2012, Columbia University Press, New York.<ref>See http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15366-9/acts-of-god-and-man.</ref>
* ''Acts of God and Man: Ruminations on Risk and Insurance'', 2012, Columbia University Press, New York.<ref>See http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15366-9/acts-of-god-and-man.</ref>
* ''Icons'', 2003, Dry Bones Press, San Francisco (science-fiction/fantasy novel).<ref>See https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1931333262.</ref>
* ''Icons'', 2003, Dry Bones Press, San Francisco (science-fiction/fantasy novel).<ref>See https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1931333262.</ref>
* ''Global Risk Management: Financial, Operational, and Insurance Strategies'', 2002, co-edited with J. Jay Choi, JAI Press/Elsevier, Amsterdam.<ref>See http://www.emeraldinsight.com/books.htm?issn=1569-3767&volume=3.</ref>
* ''Global Risk Management: Financial, Operational, and Insurance Strategies'', 2002, co-edited with J. Jay Choi, JAI Press/Elsevier, Amsterdam.<ref>See https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1016/S1569-3767(2002)3.</ref>
* ''The Economics and Politics of Choice No-Fault Insurance'', 2001, co-edited with Edward L. Lascher, Jr., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.<ref>See https://www.springer.com/business+%26+management/book/978-0-7923-7467-1?cm_cmm=sgw-_-ps-_-book-_-0-7923-7467-3.</ref>
* ''The Economics and Politics of Choice No-Fault Insurance'', 2001, co-edited with Edward L. Lascher, Jr., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.<ref>See https://www.springer.com/business+%26+management/book/978-0-7923-7467-1?cm_cmm=sgw-_-ps-_-book-_-0-7923-7467-3.</ref>


==Education==
==Education==
Powers received his B.S. in Applied Mathematics, ''summa cum laude'', from [[Yale University]] and his Ph.D. in Statistics from [[Harvard University]]. At Harvard, he wrote his dissertation under the direction of [[John W. Pratt]].<ref>See http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=103799.</ref>
Powers received his B.S. in Applied Mathematics, summa cum laude, from [[Yale University]] and his Ph.D. in Statistics from [[Harvard University]]. At Harvard, he wrote his dissertation under the direction of [[John W. Pratt]].<ref>See http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=103799.</ref>


==Other activities==
==Other activities==
During the 2008 U.S. Presidential election campaign, Powers’ comments<ref>See http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=253B8DF9-18FE-70B2-A8961A86DC5B16C7.</ref> on the relative life expectancies of candidates [[John McCain]] and [[Barack Obama]] received media attention when cited by actor [[Matt Damon]] and others as a cause for concern.<ref>See http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2008/09/the_theology_of_sarah_palin.html.</ref> He has published occasional commentary at the [[Huffington Post]],<ref>See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-r-powers.</ref> and is a regular panelist on China Radio International's ''Biz Today'' and ''World Today'' programs.
During the [[2008 U.S. Presidential election]] campaign, Powers’ comments<ref>See https://www.politico.com/story/2008/09/mccain-and-the-politics-of-mortality-013096
.</ref> on the relative life expectancies of candidates [[John McCain]] and [[Barack Obama]] received media attention when cited by actor [[Matt Damon]] and others as a cause for concern.<ref>See http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2008/09/the_theology_of_sarah_palin.html.</ref> He has published occasional commentary at the [[Huffington Post]],<ref>See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-r-powers.</ref> and is a regular panelist on [[China Radio International]]'s ''Biz Today'' and ''World Today'' programs.<ref>See https://www.facebook.com/chinaplusnews/videos/five-takeaways-from-premier-lis-press-conference/585347141984469/.</ref>


==References==
==References==
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* [http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers Michael R. Powers' Tsinghua University webpage]
* [http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers Michael R. Powers' Tsinghua University webpage]
* [http://www.scienceofrisk.com/ Michael R. Powers' personal webpage]
* [http://www.scienceofrisk.com/ Michael R. Powers' personal webpage]
* {{Youtube|J9G00A5IsA4|"Michael R. Powers: Assessing Extraordinary Claims Actuarial Science & The Search For Truth"}}


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{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:American statisticians]]
[[Category:American statisticians]]
[[Category:Tsinghua University faculty]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Tsinghua University]]

Latest revision as of 21:20, 8 November 2023

For other people named Michael Powers, see Michael Powers (disambiguation).
Michael Roland Powers
Born (1959-11-19) November 19, 1959 (age 64)
BildungYale University
Harvard University
Occupation(s)Professor, Statistician, Author
Known forZurich Insurance Group Chair Professor of Finance at Tsinghua University

Michael Roland Powers (Chinese: 包迈高; pinyin: Bāo Màigāo; born November 19, 1959) is an American academic who is the Chair Professor of Finance at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management (SEM) in China. Since 2014, he has held a dual appointment as professor at Tsinghua's Schwarzman College. An internationally recognized risk and insurance expert, he was a 2011 recipient of China’s Thousand Talents Plan award. In 2013, he won the Kulp-Wright Book Award for Acts of God and Man: Ruminations on Risk and Insurance (2012, Columbia University Press).[1]

Forschung

[edit]

Powers has published numerous scholarly articles on a variety of risk-related topics, with particular focus on issues of government regulation and public policy.[2] His major research contributions include: the introduction of intertemporal discounting into collective risk theory (actuarial ruin theory);[3] the derivation of the “Powers-Shubik square-root rule” for the approximate number of reinsurance companies operating in a national insurance market;[4] and a utility-theoretic solution of the Two Envelopes Paradox.[5] A frequent collaborator of the late Martin Shubik, he is responsible for promoting the application of game-theoretic modeling in insurance and actuarial science.[6] In Acts of God and Man, he proposed a science of risk based upon: a fundamentalist Bayesian (i.e., subjective/judgmental) approach to modeling uncertainty; a formal distinction between the "aloof" risks of insurance and the "non-aloof" risks of other financial markets; and a personalized scientific method emphasizing randomized controlled studies, mathematical and game-theoretic modeling, and statistical simulation.[7]

Career

[edit]

Powers was appointed Deputy Insurance Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (a sub-cabinet-level post in the state government) in 1987,[8] and subsequently was responsible for designing Pennsylvania’s current “choice” no-fault automobile insurance system.[9] He joined the faculty of Temple University’s Fox School of Business in 1990, and moved to Tsinghua University in 2011. In 2013, he succeeded Professor David Daokui Li as chair of Tsinghua’s finance department, serving in that position until 2015.[10]

Books

[edit]
  • The Political Economy of Chinese Finance, 2016, co-edited with J. Jay Choi and Xiaotian Tina Zhang, Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley, UK.[11]
  • Acts of God and Man: Ruminations on Risk and Insurance, 2012, Columbia University Press, New York.[12]
  • Icons, 2003, Dry Bones Press, San Francisco (science-fiction/fantasy novel).[13]
  • Global Risk Management: Financial, Operational, and Insurance Strategies, 2002, co-edited with J. Jay Choi, JAI Press/Elsevier, Amsterdam.[14]
  • The Economics and Politics of Choice No-Fault Insurance, 2001, co-edited with Edward L. Lascher, Jr., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.[15]

Bildung

[edit]

Powers received his B.S. in Applied Mathematics, summa cum laude, from Yale University and his Ph.D. in Statistics from Harvard University. At Harvard, he wrote his dissertation under the direction of John W. Pratt.[16]

Other activities

[edit]

During the 2008 U.S. Presidential election campaign, Powers’ comments[17] on the relative life expectancies of candidates John McCain and Barack Obama received media attention when cited by actor Matt Damon and others as a cause for concern.[18] He has published occasional commentary at the Huffington Post,[19] and is a regular panelist on China Radio International's Biz Today and World Today programs.[20]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ See http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15366-9/acts-of-god-and-man.
  2. ^ See http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers.
  3. ^ Powers, M. R., 1995, "A Theory of Risk, Return, and Solvency," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 17, 2, 101-118.
  4. ^ Powers, M. R. and Shubik, M., 2006, "A 'Square-Root Rule' for Reinsurance," Revista de Contabilidade e Finanças (Review of Accounting and Finance), 17, 5, 101-107.
  5. ^ Powers, M. R., 2015, "Paradox-Proof Utility Functions for Heavy-Tailed Payoffs: Two Instructive Two-Envelope Problems," Risks, 3, 1, 26-34.
  6. ^ See, e.g., Powers, M. R., Shubik, M., and Yao, S. T., 1998, "Insurance Market Games: Scale Effects and Public Policy," Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie (Journal of Economics), 67, 2, 109-134; Powers, M. R. and Shubik, M., 2001, "Toward a Theory of Reinsurance and Retrocession," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 29, 2, 271-290; and Powers, M. R., 2007, "Using Aumann-Shapley Values to Allocate Insurance Risk: The Case of Inhomogeneous Losses," North American Actuarial Journal, 11, 3, 113-127.
  7. ^ See http://www.scienceofrisk.com/.
  8. ^ See http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers.
  9. ^ Powers, M. R., 1992, "Equity in Automobile Insurance: Optional No-Fault," Journal of Risk and Insurance, 59, 2, 203-220.
  10. ^ See http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/powers.
  11. ^ See https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/S1569-3767201617.
  12. ^ See http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15366-9/acts-of-god-and-man.
  13. ^ See https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1931333262.
  14. ^ See https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1016/S1569-3767(2002)3.
  15. ^ See https://www.springer.com/business+%26+management/book/978-0-7923-7467-1?cm_cmm=sgw-_-ps-_-book-_-0-7923-7467-3.
  16. ^ See http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=103799.
  17. ^ See https://www.politico.com/story/2008/09/mccain-and-the-politics-of-mortality-013096 .
  18. ^ See http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2008/09/the_theology_of_sarah_palin.html.
  19. ^ See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-r-powers.
  20. ^ See https://www.facebook.com/chinaplusnews/videos/five-takeaways-from-premier-lis-press-conference/585347141984469/.
[edit]
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