scholarly journals The unfortunate regressivity of public natural disaster insurance: Quantifying distributional implications of EQC building cover for New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sally Owen

<p>This thesis examines the question “What have been the distributional implications of the setup of Earthquake Commission (EQC) building cover for New Zealand homeowners?” In New Zealand, the vast majority of property owners pay identical premiums for the benefit of the first $100,000 tranche of natural disaster cover per dwelling. The research provides a detailed quantification of the degree of regressivity of the scheme created by these flat premiums. Using EQC claims and property datasets relating to the Canterbury Earthquake Series, I test the hypothesis that wealthier homeowners are receiving more benefit. Wealth is identified by property value, income and a range of socio-economic variables collected from the most recent New Zealand Census before the earthquake series. In explaining EQC total dwelling payout by property value and by these socio-economic variables, the research shows there is a distributional implication to EQC’s building cover. This thesis includes a proposed modification to the premium structure of the scheme, whereby regressivity could be avoided. The research concludes with a survey of other public natural disaster insurance schemes worldwide, and identifies those likely to face similar regressivity issues.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sally Owen

<p>This thesis examines the question “What have been the distributional implications of the setup of Earthquake Commission (EQC) building cover for New Zealand homeowners?” In New Zealand, the vast majority of property owners pay identical premiums for the benefit of the first $100,000 tranche of natural disaster cover per dwelling. The research provides a detailed quantification of the degree of regressivity of the scheme created by these flat premiums. Using EQC claims and property datasets relating to the Canterbury Earthquake Series, I test the hypothesis that wealthier homeowners are receiving more benefit. Wealth is identified by property value, income and a range of socio-economic variables collected from the most recent New Zealand Census before the earthquake series. In explaining EQC total dwelling payout by property value and by these socio-economic variables, the research shows there is a distributional implication to EQC’s building cover. This thesis includes a proposed modification to the premium structure of the scheme, whereby regressivity could be avoided. The research concludes with a survey of other public natural disaster insurance schemes worldwide, and identifies those likely to face similar regressivity issues.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-162
Author(s):  
Hanna Malloch

This article proposes reform to New Zealand's natural disaster insurance scheme in anticipation of The New Zealand Treasury's (Treasury) 2021 review of the Earthquake Commission Act 1993. The Canterbury Earthquake Sequence of 2010–2011 revealed many shortcomings in New Zealand's dual-insurance model, outlined in the March 2020 Public Inquiry into the Earthquake Commission. Recent changes in the private insurance market have aggravated these problems, notably, increasing premiums and a move to sum-insured policies. This article explores the lesser known background to the unique EQC system and examines the fundamental reasons for this public system. It aims to establish the most effective natural disaster insurance scheme for New Zealand, holding that retaining the dual-model approach is preferable. However, fresh reforms are necessary. Five reforms are proposed: ensuring the scheme's universality; increasing the EQC cap; implementing differentiated pricing; incorporating incentives for mitigation; including a purpose statement within the Act. Implementing these reforms will best ensure the scheme meets the objective of allowing homeowners to build their secure fence at the top of the cliff, while still ensuring there is a well-functioning ambulance at the bottom.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
John McAneney ◽  
Matthew Timms ◽  
Stuart Browning ◽  
Paul Somerville ◽  
Ryan Crompton

Author(s):  
Editor

This article is based on material supplied by EQC in its information kit detailing the background to and consequences of the Earthquake Act 1993. After discussing the need for a change in insuring for disasters, the new natural disaster insurance for residential properties - EQCover - is outlined. This is followed by an outline of the phase-out of EQC cover for disaster insurance for commercial and "Special Purpose" properties. The new structure for and role of the Earthquake Commission is also outlined.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Füssenich ◽  
Hendriek C. Boshuizen ◽  
Markus M. J. Nielen ◽  
Erik Buskens ◽  
Talitha L. Feenstra

Abstract Background Policymakers generally lack sufficiently detailed health information to develop localized health policy plans. Chronic disease prevalence mapping is difficult as accurate direct sources are often lacking. Improvement is possible by adding extra information such as medication use and demographic information to identify disease. The aim of the current study was to obtain small geographic area prevalence estimates for four common chronic diseases by modelling based on medication use and socio-economic variables and next to investigate regional patterns of disease. Methods Administrative hospital records and general practitioner registry data were linked to medication use and socio-economic characteristics. The training set (n = 707,021) contained GP diagnosis and/or hospital admission diagnosis as the standard for disease prevalence. For the entire Dutch population (n = 16,777,888), all information except GP diagnosis and hospital admission was available. LASSO regression models for binary outcomes were used to select variables strongly associated with disease. Dutch municipality (non-)standardized prevalence estimates for stroke, CHD, COPD and diabetes were then based on averages of predicted probabilities for each individual inhabitant. Results Adding medication use data as a predictor substantially improved model performance. Estimates at the municipality level performed best for diabetes with a weighted percentage error (WPE) of 6.8%, and worst for COPD (WPE 14.5%)Disease prevalence showed clear regional patterns, also after standardization for age. Conclusion Adding medication use as an indicator of disease prevalence next to socio-economic variables substantially improved estimates at the municipality level. The resulting individual disease probabilities could be aggregated into any desired regional level and provide a useful tool to identify regional patterns and inform local policy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1438-1445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masuda Mohsena ◽  
Rie Goto ◽  
CG Nicholas Mascie-Taylor

AbstractObjectiveTo analyse trends in maternal nutritional status in Bangladesh over a 12-year period and to examine the associations between nutritional status and socio-economic variables.DesignMaternal nutritional status indicators were height, weight and BMI. Socio-economic variables used were region, residency, education and occupation of the mothers and their husbands, house type, and possession score in the household.SettingBangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (1996, 2000, 2004 and 2007) were the source of data.SubjectsA total of 16 278 mothers were included.ResultsAll of the socio-economic variables showed significant associations with maternal nutritional status indicators. Regional variation was found to be present; all three indicators were found to be lowest in the Sylhet division. Upward trends in maternal height, weight and BMI were evident from no possessions to four possessions in households, and for no education to higher education of women and their husbands. Bangladeshi mothers measured in 2007 were found to be on average 0·34 cm taller and 3·36 kg heavier than mothers measured in 1996. Between 1996 and 2007 maternal underweight fell from nearly 50 % to just over 30 % while overweight and obesity increased from about 3 % to over 9 % (WHO cut-offs) or from 7 % to nearly 18 % (Asian cut-offs).ConclusionsThe study reveals that over the 12-year period in Bangladesh there has been a substantial reduction in maternal underweight accompanied by a considerable increase in obesity. It is also evident that malnutrition in Bangladesh is a multidimensional problem that warrants a proper policy mix and programme intervention.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Savdeep Vasudeva ◽  
Gurdip Singh

This study addresses a research gap in mobile banking (M-banking) related to post service usage consumer behavior and aims to discover the impact of electronic core (e-core) service quality dimensions on the perceived value of service in relation to three socio-economic variables i.e. gender, age and income. The study attempts to identify whether the impact of these dimensions vary as per the difference in socio-economic demographics? Further, E-S-QUAL scale representing dimensions of e-core service quality is utilized and data collection is conducted from a survey of 600 mobile banking users of the Punjab State in India. The collected data is then put to test using Multiple Regression Analysis and Cronbach's alpha. Findings of the study reveal that different customers perceive these dimensions differently depending upon their demographics. This study has important implications for academic research related to e-service quality or to any one doing research in the field of M-banking.


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