PhD Defence: Alexander Gamerdinger

In order to obtain the PhD degree, Alexander Gamerdinger has submitted his thesis entitled:

Professionals, Morals and Markets: The Uneven Algorithmization of Behavioral Life Insurance

This dissertation examines the selective adoption of algorithmic technologies in the Danish life insurance market. While the use of behavioral data and machine learning has gained traction in claims prevention, algorithmic pricing remains conspicuously absent. Drawing on 50 semi-structured interviews, 360 hours of ethnographic fieldwork, and extensive document analysis, the dissertation shows that the uneven algorithmization of life insurance is not located in purely technical, economic, or regulatory barriers, but in the role played by professionals and the moral dynamics that condition technological uptake. Through four research papers, tracing professional interactions across EU regulatory, market, organizational, and technical arenas, moral authority is theorized as the key mechanism by which professionals shape technological adoption. The dissertation contributes to the sociology of insurance, economic sociology, and the sociology of professions by demonstrating how professional morals function as a constitutive force driving and constraining algorithmic transformation in morally charged consumer markets.

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk

Primary Supervisor:

Professor Leonard Seabrooke
Department of Organization
Copenhagen Business School 

Secondary Supervisors: 

Professor Christian Borch
Derpartment of Sociology
University of Copenhagen 

Assessment Committee:

Associate Professor Christoph Houman Ellersgaard (Chair)
Department of Organization
Copenhagen Business School 

Professor Adam Hayes
Department of Sociology
University of Lucerne 

Professor Liz McFall
School of Social and Political Science
University of Edinburgh 

Date: 10 september 2025
Time: 14:00-16:00
Online: TEAMS

*Please note that the microphone and camera of all spectators must be turned off.

Location: Kilen
Room: Ks54 
Reception: Tall tabels at IOA kitchen area (4th floor)

*The CBS PhD School will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence.