The Wharton Risk Center is working with its partners to examine alternative programs for reducing losses from natural disasters and providing funds for recovery following a catastrophe, particularly the role that the private and public sectors should play in mitigating future disaster losses and financing the recovery process.
- What role can the public sector play in partnering with the private sector in general and the insurance sector in particular to lever its strengths (knowledge, network, financial capacity) in reducing the potential losses from future natural disasters and increasing the speed and efficiency of recovery from any large scale disaster?
- What are the costs, benefits and tradeoffs associated with alternative risk mitigation strategies?
Managing and Financing Extreme Events Research Topics for 2018
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Wharton Risk Center’s Involvement with the National Academy of Sciences on Reform of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 requires FEMA to study ways to improve the financial balance of the NFIP. The National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council is addressing this task on behalf of FEMA and Congress. Wharton Risk Center faculty and fellows serve on three NAS committees.
- Analysis of Costs and Benefits of Reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program
- Risk-Based Methods for Insurance Premiums of Negatively-Elevated Structures in the National Flood Insurance Program
- A Community-Based Flood Insurance Option
The committees published these reports in 2015:
- Affordability of National Flood Insurance Program Premiums: Report 1
- Affordability of National Flood Insurance Program Premiums: Report 2
- Tying Flood Insurance to Flood Risk for Low-Lying Structures in the Floodplains
- A Community-Based Flood Insurance Option
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Learning from Hurricane Sandy: A Panel Discussion on Reducing Future Disaster Losses (video)
Expert panel discussion on steps that are being taken to reduce losses from hurricanes and floods, and affordability issues that threaten to delay the implementation of the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.
Katherine Greig, NYC Mayor’s Office
Sean Kevelighan, Zurich NA
Marion McFadden, HUD
Roy Wright, FEMA
Moderator: Howard Kunreuther, Wharton School
An Incentive-Compatible Experiment on Probabilistic Insurance and Implications for an Insurer's Solvency Level
Journal of Risk and Insurance (2016)
Demand for Fixed-Price Multi-year Contracts: Experimental Evidence from Insurance Decisions
Demand for Fixed-Price Multi-year Contracts: Experimental Evidence from Insurance Decisions
Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 51(2), 2015
Examining Flood Insurance Claims in the United States: Six Key Findings
Examining Flood Insurance Claims in the United States: Six Key Findings
Journal of Risk and Insurance, DOI: 10.111/jori.12106, 2015
Six Lessons from Katrina Loom Even Larger 10 Years Later
Six Lessons from Katrina Loom Even Larger 10 Years Later
Government Executive, August 2015
Maintain the Best Features of Biggert-Waters
Maintain the Best Features of Biggert-Waters
The Hill, March 6, 2014
Convective Storm Vulnerability: Quantifying the Role of Effective and Well-Enforced Building Codes in Minimizing Missouri Hail Property Damage
Forgetting the Flood? An Analysis of the Flood Risk Discount over Time
Forgetting the Flood? An Analysis of the Flood Risk Discount over Time
Land Economics 89: 577-596
Quantifying Riverine and Storm-Surge Flood Risk by Single-Family Residence: Application to Texas
Quantifying Riverine and Storm-Surge Flood Risk by Single-Family Residence: Application to Texas
Risk Analysis, 33(12): 2092-2110
Have We Entered an Ever-Growing Cycle on Government Disaster Relief?
Have We Entered an Ever-Growing Cycle on Government Disaster Relief?
Testimony at the Roundtable for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Helping Small Businesses Weather Economic Challenges and Natural Disasters, March 14, 2013
Improving Insurance Decisions in the Most Misunderstood Industry
Improving Insurance Decisions in the Most Misunderstood Industry
Testimony at the Roundtable for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Helping Small Businesses Weather Economic Challenges and Natural Disasters, March 14, 2013
Insuring Future Climate Catastrophes
Insuring Future Climate Catastrophes
Climatic Change, December 2012
A Methodological Approach for Pricing Flood Insurance and Evaluating Loss Reduction Measures: Application to Texas
January 2012
This study by the Wharton Risk Center and CoreLogic®, aims at better understanding flood risk in the United States and the role that public and private insurance can play in providing financial coverage and reducing losses from this risk to residents in areas subject to water damage from floods and hurricanes.
“At War with the Weather”
“At War with the Weather” (MIT Press 2009, 2011)
Book review by RMA Journal, October 2009
Who Benefits from Federal Flood Aid?
Who Benefits from Federal Flood Aid The New York Times, October 1, 2011
by Howard Kunreuther
Op-ed by Howard Kunreuther on reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program.
People Get Ready
People Get Ready, Issues in Science and Technology, September 2011
by Howard Kunreuther and Erwann Michel-Kerjan
Natural catastrophes are becoming more common and more expensive, but human and financial losses can be greatly reduced through incentives to purchase insurance and install protective measures.