Insurance as an Integrating Policy Tool for Disaster Management: The Role of Public-Private Partnerships

Abstract

Insurance can play a key role in facilitating public-private partnerships for dealing with the losses from future natural disasters. This paper proposes a hazard management program, which links insurance with other policy tools and brings together key interested parties concerned with earthquakes. It stresses the importance of identifying and assessing the risk, understanding both the decision processes of individuals in hazard-prone areas and the insurability issues associated with the earthquake risk. A series of policy-related questions raise issues for future research.