The Role of Natural Disaster Insurance in Recovery and Risk Reduction

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 399-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Kousky
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Hazard Mitigation ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Disaster Insurance

Natural disaster losses have been increasing worldwide. Insurance is thought to play a critical role in improving resilience to these events by both promoting recovery and providing incentives for investments in hazard mitigation. This review first examines the functioning of disaster insurance markets broadly and then turns to reviewing empirical studies on the role of natural disaster insurance in recovery and the impacts of disaster insurance on incentives for ex ante hazard mitigation and land use. Rigorous empirical work on these topics is limited. The work that has been done suggests that insurance coverage does improve recovery outcomes, but impacts on risk reduction may be modest. More studies comparing outcomes across insured and uninsured properties are needed, particularly for better understanding the role of insurance in climate adaptation.

Economics of Insurance Against Natural Disaster Risks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Wouter Botzen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Disaster Insurance ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Risk Management Strategies

Increasing natural disaster losses in the past decades and expectations that this trend will accelerate under climate change motivated the development of a branch of literature on the economics of natural disaster insurance. A starting point for assessing the implications of climate change for insurance and developing risk management strategies is understanding the factors underlying historical loss trends and the way that future risks will develop. Most studies have pointed toward socioeconomic developments as the main cause of historical trends in natural disaster risks. Moreover, evidence reveals that climate change has been a contributing factor, which is expected to grow in importance in the future. Several supply and demand side obstacles may prevent natural disaster insurance from optimally fulfilling its desirable function of offering financial protection at affordable premiums. Climate change is expected to further hamper the insurability of natural disaster risks, unless insurers and governments proactively respond to climate change, for example by linking insurance coverage with risk reduction activities. A branch of literature has developed about how the functioning of insurance should be improved to cope with climate change. This includes industry-level responses, reforms of insurance market structures, such as public–private natural disaster insurance provision, and recommendations for addressing behavioral biases in insurance demand and for stimulating risk reduction. In view of the rising economic losses of natural disasters, this field of study is likely to remain an active one.

scholarly journals A Selective Role of Dietary Anthocyanins and Flavan-3-ols in Reducing the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Review of Recent Evidence

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britt Burton-Freeman ◽  
Michał Brzeziński ◽  
Eunyoung Park ◽  
Amandeep Sandhu ◽  
Di Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Glucose Absorption ◽  
Diabetes Risk ◽  
Fiber Plant

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most common form of DM and its prevalence is increasing worldwide. Because it is a progressive disease, prevention, early detection and disease course modification are possible. Diet plays a critical role in reducing T2DM risk. Therapeutic dietary approaches routinely recommend diets high in plant foods (i.e., vegetables, fruits, whole-grains). In addition to essential micronutrients and fiber, plant-based diets contain a wide-variety of polyphenols, specifically flavonoid compounds. Evidence suggests that flavonoids may confer specific benefits for T2DM risk reduction through pathways influencing glucose absorption and insulin sensitivity and/or secretion. The present review assesses the relationship between dietary flavonoids and diabetes risk reduction reviewing current epidemiology and clinical research. Collectively, the research indicates that certain flavonoids, explicitly anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols and foods rich in these compounds, may have an important role in dietary algorithms aimed to address diabetes risk factors and the development of T2DM.

scholarly journals Disaster Response in Indonesia: Initiating Income Tax Policy Pro Disaster Mitigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-256
Author(s):  
Dini Dubelmar ◽  
Made Astrin Dwi Kartini ◽  
Sabila Mareli ◽  
Murwendah Murwendah
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Disaster Insurance ◽  
Tax Allowance ◽  
Income Tax Policy ◽  
The Government

As a country with high potential for natural disaster, Indonesia can suffer from economic disruptions arising from significant decline in gross domestic income (GDP) due to financing losses caused by natural disaster. To reduce the risk of loss caused by natural disasters, the government has issued disaster mitigation policies in the form of structural and non-structural policies. In 2018, the government initiated a disaster mitigation policy in the form of natural disaster insurance prioritized to protect state assets. It does not exclude the possibility that this insurance shall be given to civil society, yet an issue arises regarding the source of funding for the insurance. Tax instruments are expected to be a policy innovation to overcome the issue of financing insurance. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential and role of fiscal policy through tax instruments in the context of disaster management in Indonesia. This study applied a qualitative approach and collected data through field studies and in-depth interviews. The findings of this study indicate that the natural disaster insurance policy may adopt the concept of tax allowance on donation and zakat as stipulated in Law No. 36 of 2008 on Income Tax. This incentive provides a tax facility in the form of tax allowance on income for calculating Income Tax. The policy is expected to attract the community to participate in natural disaster insurance amid the general lack of participation in insurance in Indonesia. On the other hand, the government obtains a source of revenue to finance disaster mitigation without disrupting the economy of the country.

Crime victims’ self-medication

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem de Lint ◽  
Marinella Marmo ◽  
Andrew Groves ◽  
Adam Pocrnic
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Self Medication ◽  
Network Support ◽  
Supplementary Hypothesis ◽  
Alcohol And Other Drugs

While considerable literature has explored the complex nature of victimisation, few empirical studies have examined the role of alcohol and other drugs (AODs) in victims’ experiences, specifically victims’ self-medication using AODs and its impact on ongoing health and welfare needs. Addressing the dearth of empirical research on the nature and extent of victims’ self-medication, and drawing upon quantitative data from a survey ( n = 102) of victims from Adelaide, South Australia this article explores individuals’ experiences of victimisation and AOD use against type of victimisation, type of peer support network and type of consumption. The findings indicate support for the self-medication for trauma hypothesis, namely that victimisation is positively associated with considerable increase in AOD consumption. On the other hand, there is a lack of support for the supplementary hypothesis that network support is associated with victimisation/re-victimisation. The authors demonstrate that further empirical work is needed to deepen understanding of victims’ AOD use and expedite the development of evidence-based policy and support frameworks.

Drawing the Missing Map: What Socio-legal Research Can Offer to International Criminal Trial Practice

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 991-1007
Author(s):  
ROSEMARY BYRNE
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Trial ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
International Trial

AbstractThe nature of international criminal trial practice is integral to the perception of the legitimacy of international criminal justice. However, our understanding of what transpires within the trial chambers of international courts and tribunals (ICTs) comes primarily from the reports of judges, lawyers, and stakeholders within the system. This article argues that, while the vast body of international criminal justice scholarship barely draws on socio-legal research, empirical work can contribute to a more objective understanding of international criminal trial practice. It examines prevailing academic approaches to the study of international trial practice as a backdrop to the assessment of data from one of the most expansive empirical studies of international trial practice, undertaken during the second mandate (1999–2003) of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The findings illustrate significant variations in how judges in different Trial Chambers chose to exercise discretion, revealing the co-existence of two distinct modalities of practice in ‘proactive’ and ‘reactive’ Trial Chambers. Quantitative and qualitative data allow for an assessment of the efficiency of these modalities, revealing the critical role of the performance of the judge in the trial process. It is argued that these findings highlight the potential for further socio-legal research to motivate ‘light-touch reform’ within the international criminal justice system.

Who's in the Driver's Seat? Exploring Firm-Level vs. CEO-Level Effects on Problemistic Search

2021 ◽  
pp. 014920632110638
Author(s):  
Songcui Hu ◽  
Richard J. Gentry ◽  
Timothy J. Quigley ◽  
Steven Boivie
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Organizational Outcomes ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Managerial Agency

The Behavioral Theory of the Firm suggests that performance below an aspiration triggers problemistic search that can lead to organizational change and risk-taking. This compelling perspective has spawned considerable empirical examination of diverse strategic outcomes as firms’ responses to performance feedback. However, empirical studies have provided inconsistent evidence of problemistic search effects on various organizational search outcomes. This empirical controversy is likely attributed to the fact that most research has considered problemistic search as a firm-level and relatively routinized process with a high degree of automaticity in firms’ responses to performance feedback while overlooking the role of managerial agency. Rather than viewing problemistic search as an automatic firm-level process, we believe that behavioral responses are shaped, at least partially, by top executives, notably CEOs. To this end, we first examine whether problemistic search effects vary across a range of organizational change and risk outcomes. We then explore whether the relative size of firm and CEO effects varies across different search outcomes. Using a multilevel approach, we show not only the heterogeneity in problemistic search effects on different organizational outcomes but also heterogeneity in the relative size of firm and CEO effects on these outcomes. While firm effects are substantial in directing some strategic decisions, as proposed by the problemistic search model, CEO effects are large for certain organizational outcomes, such as changes in resource allocation. This study serves as a jumping-off point for future theorizing and empirical work on problemistic search that incorporate the role of managerial agency.

Service gifts, collective social connection and reciprocity

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 2477-2500
Author(s):  
Yihui (Elina) Tang ◽  
Christian Hinsch ◽  
Donald J. Lund ◽  
Husni Kharouf
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Research Show

Purpose This study aims to investigate the process of service gifting (i.e. unexpected upgrades or benefits) and examine why service gifts do not always result in firm-beneficial reciprocal behaviors from consumers. Design/methodology/approach Through a series of three studies including both scenario-based and game-theory-based experiments, this research proposes and empirically validates a conceptual model that examines the effect of service gifts on firm-beneficial reciprocal behaviors, and the role of collective social connection and norm of positive reciprocity (NPR) in this process. Findings The findings of this research show that the consumer’s feelings of collective social connection mediate the link between the provision of service gifts and firm-beneficial outcomes. Furthermore, an individual’s adherence to NPR moderates this process. Specifically, individuals with a strong adherence to NPR do not display increases in collective social connection following the receipt of a service gift. Those who are low in NPR follow the expected pattern of increased collective social connection leading to reciprocation. Research limitations/implications Future research may further generalize the model to other situations such as high vs low context cultures. Longitudinal field experiments can be used to further investigate collective versus relational social connection, which can be either a by-product or a primary benefit derived from service delivery. Practical implications The results of this research reveal the critical role of collective social connection which has been largely ignored in service gifting research. It encourages managers to use service gifting to directly boost consumers collective social connection. Furthermore, it offers managers insight into why service gifts do not always result in firm-beneficial outcomes because of the moderating role of NPR. Originality/value The roles of social connection and the norm of reciprocity have been under-studied in both theoretical and empirical work on service gifting. This paper demonstrates that, contrary to traditional thought, those typically expected to reciprocate the most (i.e. high in NPR) may not realize increased collective social connection leading to reciprocation following receipt of a service gift.

The dual nature of tools and their makeover

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Rizzo
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Functional Fixedness ◽  
Stable Function ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Functional Knowledge

AbstractVaesen argues that functional knowledge differentiates humans from non-human primates. However, the rationale he provides for this position is open to question – with respect to both the underlying theoretical assumptions and inferences drawn from certain empirical studies. Indeed, there is some recent empirical work that suggests that functional fixedness is not necessarily uniquely human. I also question the central role of stable function representations in Vaesen's account of tool production and use.

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