TITLE (Invited Article)
"Is Life Insurance a Human Capital Derivatives Business?," Journal of Insurance Issues, Krzysztof Ostaszewski, Spring 2003, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 1-14. Entire article in Acrobat format.

ABSTRACT
Life and disability insurance, as well as annuities, traditionally have been analyzed as products providing protection against random losses.  This article proposes that these products can be viewed as derivative instruments created to address the uncertainties and inadequacies of an individual's human capital, if human capital is viewed as a financial instrument.  In short, life insurance (including disability insurance and annuities) is the business of human capital securitization. 

[Keywords: human capital, securitization, life insurance, background risks]