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Fifty Years of U.S. Natural Disaster Insurance Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Kendra Marcoux
  • Katherine R. H. Wagner

Abstract

The high and increasing cost of natural disasters around the world motivates a growing body of literature on the role of natural disaster insurance in adapting to climate change. This chapter reviews current challenges in both public and private natural disaster insurance markets in the United States and how the nature of these challenges has changed over the past fifty years. We discuss how the infrequent, spatially correlated, and extreme events that distinguish these markets complicate both the supply of and demand for natural disaster insurance, with spillovers to related markets such as real estate. We also highlight open questions that would be helpful to answer to inform analysis of currently proposed natural disaster insurance reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Kendra Marcoux & Katherine R. H. Wagner, 2023. "Fifty Years of U.S. Natural Disaster Insurance Policy," CESifo Working Paper Series 10431, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10431
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    natural disaster insurance; climate change; adaptation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • H84 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Disaster Aid
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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