IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rmgtin/v12y2009i1p81-124.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Perfect Storm: Hurricanes, Insurance, and Regulation

Author

Listed:
  • Martin F. Grace
  • Robert W. Klein

Abstract

The intense hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 caused considerable instability in property insurance markets in coastal states with the greatest problems occurring in Florida and the Southeast. Insurers have substantially raised rates and decreased their exposures. While no severe hurricanes struck the United States in 2006 and 2007, market pressures remain strong given the high risk still facing coastal states. These developments generate considerable concern and controversy among various stakeholder groups. Government responses have varied. In Florida, political pressures prompted a wave of legislation and regulations to expand government underwriting and subsidization of hurricane risk and constrain insurers' rates and market adjustments. Other states' actions seem more moderate. In this context, it is important to understand how property insurance markets have been changing and governments have been responding to increased catastrophe risk. This article examines important market developments and evaluates associated government policies. We comment on how regulation is affecting the equilibration of insurance markets and offer opinions on policies that are helpful and harmful.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin F. Grace & Robert W. Klein, 2009. "The Perfect Storm: Hurricanes, Insurance, and Regulation," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 12(1), pages 81-124, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:rmgtin:v:12:y:2009:i:1:p:81-124
    DOI: j.1540-6296.2009.01155.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6296.2009.01155.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/j.1540-6296.2009.01155.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy Besley & Stephen Coate, 2003. "Elected Versus Appointed Regulators: Theory and Evidence," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(5), pages 1176-1206, September.
    2. Kenneth A. Froot & Paul G. J. O'Connell, 1999. "The Pricing of U.S. Catastrophe Reinsurance," NBER Chapters, in: The Financing of Catastrophe Risk, pages 195-232, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Martin F. Grace & Robert W. Klein & Paul R. Kleindorfer, 2004. "Homeowners Insurance With Bundled Catastrophe Coverage," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 71(3), pages 351-379, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Howard Kunreuther & Erwann Michel-Kerjan, 2015. "Demand for fixed-price multi-year contracts: Experimental evidence from insurance decisions," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 171-194, October.
    2. Vijay Aseervatham & Patricia Born & Dominik Lohmaier & Andreas Richter, 2017. "Hazard-Specific Supply Reactions in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 42(2), pages 193-225, April.
    3. Robert W. Klein & Harold Weston, 2020. "Government insurance for business interruption losses from pandemics: An evaluation of its feasibility and possible frameworks," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 401-440, December.
    4. Lorilee A. Medders & Charles M. Nyce & J. Bradley Karl, 2014. "Market Implications of Public Policy Interventions: The Case of Florida's Property Insurance Market," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 17(2), pages 183-214, September.
    5. Frederick Schuh & Tanja Jaeckle, 2023. "Impact of hurricanes on US insurance stocks," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 26(1), pages 5-34, March.
    6. James M. Carson & Kathleen A. McCullough & David M. Pooser, 2013. "Deciding Whether to Invest in Mitigation Measures: Evidence From Florida," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 80(2), pages 309-327, June.
    7. Ning Wang & Yiling Deng, 2016. "Market responses to loss shocks and insurers' post-catastrophe performance in the US property-casualty insurance market," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 11(3), pages 231-246.
    8. Charles M. Nyce & Patrick Maroney, 2011. "Are Territorial Rating Models Outdated in Residential Property Insurance Markets? Evidence From the Florida Property Insurance Market," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 14(2), pages 201-232, September.
    9. Paul Kleindorfer & Howard Kunreuther & Chieh Ou-Yang, 2012. "Single-year and multi-year insurance policies in a competitive market," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 51-78, August.
    10. Nicola Ranger & Swenja Surminski, 2011. "A preliminary assessment of the impact of climate change on non-life insurance demand in the BRICS economies," GRI Working Papers 63, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    11. Manoj Athavale & Stephen M. Avila, 2011. "An Analysis of the Demand for Earthquake Insurance," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 14(2), pages 233-246, September.
    12. Trevor Maynard & Nicola Ranger, 2011. "What role for �long-term� insurance in adaptation? An analysis of the prospects for and pricing of multi-year insurance contracts," GRI Working Papers 62, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    13. Cassandra R. Cole & David A. Macpherson & Patrick F. Maroney & Kathleen A. McCullough & James W. (Jay) Newman, Jr & Charles Nyce, 2011. "The Use of Postloss Financing of Catastrophic Risk," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 14(2), pages 265-298, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Parente, Ronaldo & Choi, Byeongyong Paul & Slangen, Arjen H.L. & Ketkar, Sonia, 2010. "Distribution system choice in a service industry: An analysis of international insurance firms operating in the United States," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 275-287, September.
    2. Rodrigo M. S. Moita & Claudio Paiva, 2013. "Political Price Cycles in Regulated Industries: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 94-121, February.
    3. Galletta, Sergio, 2017. "Law enforcement, municipal budgets and spillover effects: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in Italy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 90-105.
    4. Christian Schultz, 2003. "Information, Polarization and Delegation in Democracy," CESifo Working Paper Series 1104, CESifo.
    5. Elliott Ash & W. Bentley MacLeod, 2015. "Intrinsic Motivation in Public Service: Theory and Evidence from State Supreme Courts," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(4).
    6. Xiao Lin, 2020. "Feeling Is Believing? Evidence From Earthquake Shaking Experience and Insurance Demand," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(2), pages 351-380, June.
    7. Mark Partridge & Tim Sass, 2011. "The productivity of elected and appointed officials: the case of school superintendents," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 133-149, October.
    8. Alexander Alekseev & Natalia Tourdyeva & Ksenia Yudaeva, 2003. "Estimation of the Russia’s trade policy options with the help of the Computable General Equilibrium Model," Working Papers w0042, New Economic School (NES).
    9. Clots-Figueras, Irma, 2011. "Women in politics: Evidence from the Indian States," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 664-690, August.
    10. Stephen Hansen & Michael McMahon, 2016. "First Impressions Matter: Signalling as a Source of Policy Dynamics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(4), pages 1645-1672.
    11. Boggio, Margherita, 2011. "Municipal capitalism, regulatory federalism and politics," MPRA Paper 46244, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Ugaz, Cecilia, 2001. "A Public Goods Approach to Regulation of Utilities," WIDER Working Paper Series 009, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Binswanger, Johannes & Prüfer, Jens, 2012. "Democracy, populism, and (un)bounded rationality," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 358-372.
    14. Brown, Jeffrey R. & Cummins, J. David & Lewis, Christopher M. & Wei, Ran, 2004. "An empirical analysis of the economic impact of federal terrorism reinsurance," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 861-898, July.
    15. Srinivas C. Parinandi, 2020. "Policy Inventing and Borrowing among State Legislatures," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(4), pages 852-868, October.
    16. Green, R. & Lorenzoni, A. & Perez, Y. & Pollitt, M., 2006. "Benchmarking Electricity Liberalisation in Europe’Benchmarking Electricity Liberalisation in Europe," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0629, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    17. Erwann Michel-Kerjan & Paul A. Raschky & Howard C. Kunreuther, 2009. "Corporate Demand for Insurance: An Empirical Analysis of the U.S. Market for Catastrophe and Non-Catastrophe Risks," Working Papers hal-00372420, HAL.
    18. Bueno de Mesquita, Ethan & Landa, Dimitri, 2015. "Political accountability and sequential policymaking," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 95-108.
    19. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Stefan Nagel & Lasse H. Pedersen, 2009. "Carry Trades and Currency Crashes," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2008, Volume 23, pages 313-347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Ruben Enikolopov, 2011. "Are Bureaucrats Really Paid Like Bureaucrats?," Working Papers w0165, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:rmgtin:v:12:y:2009:i:1:p:81-124. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1098-1616 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.