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Policy Watch: Challenges for Terrorism Risk Insurance in the United States

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  • Howard Kunreuther
  • Erwann Michel-Kerjan

Abstract

This paper examines the role that insurance has played in dealing with terrorism before and after September 11, 2001, by focusing on the distinctive challenges associated with terrorism as a catastrophic risk. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA) was passed by the U.S. Congress in November 2002, establishing a national terrorism insurance program that provides up to $100 billion commercial coverage with a specific but temporary risk-sharing arrangement between the federal government and insurers. TRIA's three-year term ends December 31, 2005, so Congress soon has to determine whether it should be renewed, whether an alternative terrorism insurance program should be substituted for it, or whether insurance coverage is left solely in the hands of the private sector. As input into this process, the paper examines several alternatives and scenarios, and discusses their potential to create a sustainable terrorism insurance program in the Unites States.

Suggested Citation

  • Howard Kunreuther & Erwann Michel-Kerjan, 2004. "Policy Watch: Challenges for Terrorism Risk Insurance in the United States," NBER Working Papers 10870, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10870
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Erwann Michel‐Kerjan & Howard Kunreuther, 2018. "A Successful (Yet Somewhat Untested) Case of Disaster Financing: Terrorism Insurance Under TRIA, 2002–2020," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 21(1), pages 157-180, March.
    2. Daina McDonald, 2006. "150 Issues of The Australian Economic Review: The Changing Face of a Journal over Time," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2006n01, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    3. S. T. M. Straetmans & W. F. C. Verschoor & C. C. P. Wolff, 2008. "Extreme US stock market fluctuations in the wake of 9|11," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 17-42.
    4. Yan, Jubo & Kniffin, Kevin M. & Kunreuther, Howard C. & Schulze, William D., 2020. "The roles of reason and emotion in private and public responses to terrorism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 778-796.
    5. Erwann Michel‐Kerjan & Burkhard Pedell, 2006. "How Does the Corporate World Cope with Mega‐Terrorism? Puzzling Evidence from Terrorism Insurance Markets," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 18(4), pages 61-75, September.
    6. W. Viscusi, 2009. "Valuing risks of death from terrorism and natural disasters," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 191-213, June.
    7. 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 2009-10, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    8. Karolyi, G. Andrew, 2006. "The Consequences of Terrorism for Financial Markets: What Do We Know?," Working Paper Series 2006-6, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    9. Mudassar Hasan & Muhammad Abubakr Naeem & Muhammad Arif & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad & Safwan Mohd Nor, 2020. "Geopolitical Risk and Tourism Stocks of Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-21, November.
    10. Geoffrey Heal & Howard Kunreuther, 2010. "Environment and Energy: Catastrophic Liabilities from Nuclear Power Plants," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Managing Federal Financial Risk, pages 235-257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Michel-Kerjan Erwann & de Marcellis-Warin Nathalie, 2006. "Public-Private Programs for Covering Extreme Events: The Impact of Information Distribution on Risk-Sharing," Asia-Pacific Journal of Risk and Insurance, De Gruyter, vol. 1(2), pages 1-30, February.
    12. Zaneta Chapman & Thomas Getzen, 2012. "Hazardous immorality: strategic externalization of risk and credit pricing," Journal of Risk Finance, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 13(4), pages 381-391, August.
    13. Siqueira, Kevin & Sandler, Todd, 2007. "Terrorist backlash, terrorism mitigation, and policy delegation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(9), pages 1800-1815, September.
    14. Helmut Gründl & Danjela Guxha & Anastasia Kartasheva & Hato Schmeiser, 2021. "Insurability of pandemic risks," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 88(4), pages 863-902, December.
    15. Erwann Michel-Kerjan, 2013. "Finance des risques catastrophiques. Le marché américain est en plein bouleversement," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 64(4), pages 615-634.
    16. Kunreuther, Howard & Michel-Kerjan, Erwann, 2012. "Impact of behavioral issues on green growth policies and weather-related disaster reduction in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6241, The World Bank.
    17. Kessler, Denis, 2008. "Insurance market mechanisms and government interventions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 4-14, January.
    18. Kjell Hausken, 2018. "A cost–benefit analysis of terrorist attacks," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 111-129, February.
    19. Howard C. Kunreuther & Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan, 2007. "Evaluating The Effectiveness of Terrorism Risk Financing Solutions," NBER Working Papers 13359, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Howard Kunreuther & Geoffrey Heal, 2012. "Managing Catastrophic Risk," NBER Working Papers 18136, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Vicki M. Bier, 2007. "Choosing What to Protect," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 607-620, June.
    22. Michel-Kerjan, Erwann & Raschky, Paul A., 2011. "The effects of government intervention on the market for corporate terrorism insurance," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(S1), pages 122-132.
    23. Walter W. Piegorsch & Susan L. Cutter & Frank Hardisty, 2007. "Benchmark Analysis for Quantifying Urban Vulnerability to Terrorist Incidents," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 1411-1425, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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