TY - JOUR
T1 - Beyond the Block
T2 - A Novel Blockchain-Based Technical Model for Long-Term Care Insurance
AU - Zhang, Wenping
AU - Wei, Chih-Peng
AU - Jiang, Qiqi
AU - Peng, Chih-Hung
AU - Zhao, J. Leon
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The insurance business is characterized by complicated transactional interrelationships among various stakeholders involved in insurance-related activities. Given this unique nature, the century-old challenge in the insurance industry is to effectively reduce transaction costs among the stakeholders while maintaining business privacy and trust. Although blockchain is a promising technology to mitigate this challenge, two technical issues, namely (1) inefficiency in data auditing and (2) difficulty in verifying encrypted data, are of strategic importance when applying blockchain to the insurance industry. To address these technical challenges, we propose an innovative blockchain-based technical model, InsurModel, in the context of newly initiated long-term care insurance in China. Specifically, we utilize cryptographical methods including “zero-knowledge-proof” to 1) represent business interdependence and 2) verify confidential business information without disclosure of specifics. We demonstrate the scalability and applicability of InsurModel and explore its strategic implications in constraining adverse behaviors of the stakeholders.
AB - The insurance business is characterized by complicated transactional interrelationships among various stakeholders involved in insurance-related activities. Given this unique nature, the century-old challenge in the insurance industry is to effectively reduce transaction costs among the stakeholders while maintaining business privacy and trust. Although blockchain is a promising technology to mitigate this challenge, two technical issues, namely (1) inefficiency in data auditing and (2) difficulty in verifying encrypted data, are of strategic importance when applying blockchain to the insurance industry. To address these technical challenges, we propose an innovative blockchain-based technical model, InsurModel, in the context of newly initiated long-term care insurance in China. Specifically, we utilize cryptographical methods including “zero-knowledge-proof” to 1) represent business interdependence and 2) verify confidential business information without disclosure of specifics. We demonstrate the scalability and applicability of InsurModel and explore its strategic implications in constraining adverse behaviors of the stakeholders.
KW - Long-term care insurance
KW - Blockchain application
KW - Business interdependence
KW - Zero-knowledge proof
KW - Transaction-cost economics
KW - Blockchain in insurance
KW - Long-term care insurance
KW - Blockchain application
KW - Business interdependence
KW - Zero-knowledge proof
KW - Transaction-cost economics
KW - Blockchain in insurance
U2 - 10.1080/07421222.2021.1912926
DO - 10.1080/07421222.2021.1912926
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0742-1222
VL - 38
SP - 374
EP - 400
JO - Journal of Management Information Systems
JF - Journal of Management Information Systems
IS - 2
ER -