Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (7)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kunreuther, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Disaster Mitigation and Insurance: Learning from Katrina

Howard Kunreuther

Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Hurricane Katrina illustrates the natural disaster syndrome. Prior to a disaster, individuals in hazard-prone regions do not voluntarily adopt cost-effective loss reduction measures. The federal government then comes to the rescue with disaster assistance even if it claimed it had no intention of doing so prior to the event. There are a number of reasons why individuals do not protect themselves prior to a disaster. They underestimate the likelihood of a future disaster, often believing that it will not happen to them; have budget constraints; are myopic in their behavior; and/or do not want to be the only one on the block modifying their structure. Given this lack of interest in voluntary protection, benefit-cost analysis can determine when a well-enforced building code would be appropriate. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of public-private partnerships as a way of reducing future disaster losses and aiding the recovery process.

Key Words: disaster insurance • building codes • homeowner motivations • community planning • disaster mitigation • risk assessment

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 604, No. 1, 208-227 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0002716205285685
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceHome page
R. J. Burby
Hurricane Katrina and the Paradoxes of Government Disaster Policy: Bringing About Wise Governmental Decisions for Hazardous Areas
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, March 1, 2006; 604(1): 171 - 191.
[Abstract] [PDF]