Managing Catastrophic Risks through Redesigned Insurance: Challenges and Opportunities

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1 Managing Catastrophic Risks through Redesigned Insurance: Challenges and Opportunities Howard Kunreuther and Erwann Michel-Kerjan Center for Risk Management and Decision Processes The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and July 30, 2012 Book chapter prepared for G. Dionne (ed.), Handbook of Insurance Abstract: Catastrophic risks associated with natural disasters have been increasing in many countries including the United States because more individuals and firms are locating in harm s way while not taking appropriate protective measures. This paper addresses ways to reduce future losses by first focusing on behavioral biases that lead homeowners and decision-makers not to invest in adequate protection. It then turns to developing proposals for risk management strategies that involve private-public partnerships. These include multi-year insurance contracts with risk-based premiums, insurance vouchers to address affordability concerns for low-income homeowners, tax incentives, mitigation loans coupled with well-enforced building codes and land-use regulations. 1

2 Our nation is facing large-scale risks at an accelerating rhythm, and we are more vulnerable to catastrophic losses due to the increasing concentration of population and activities in high-risk coastal regions of the country. The question is not whether catastrophes will occur, but when and how frequently they will strike, and the extent of damage they will cause. Now is the time to develop and implement economically sound policies and strategies for managing the risk and consequences of future disasters. Absence of leadership in this area will inevitably lead to unnecessary loss of lives and economic destruction in the devastated regions. Kunreuther & Michel-Kerjan, At War with the Weather (2011), Preface Insurance plays a vital role in America s economy by helping households and businesses manage risks When insurance prices reflect underlying economic costs they can encourage a more efficient allocation of resources. Efforts to keep premiums for insurance against catastrophe hazards artificially low, whether through regulation or through subsidized government programs, can encourage excessively risky behavior on the part of those who might be affected by future catastrophes. White House, Economic Report of the President (2007), pp Introduction In 2007 the Economic Report of the President devoted an entire chapter to catastrophe risk insurance in which it recognized that the United States is facing increasingly greater losses from extreme events such that innovative measures are required to deal with this situation. Many other countries have also realized that they urgently need to address the challenges posed by large-scale natural disasters and other extreme events. Economic Losses from Recent Catastrophes Economic and insured losses from great natural catastrophes such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods have increased significantly in recent years. According to Munich Re (2011), economic losses from natural catastrophes alone increased from $528 billion ( ), $1,197 billion ( ) to $1,573 billion ( ). During the past ten years, the losses were principally due to hurricanes and resulting storm surge occurring in 2004, 2005, and Figure 1 depicts the evolution of the direct economic losses and the insured portion from great natural disasters over the period Hurricane Katrina, which severely struck Louisiana and Mississippi in the United States in August 2005, resulted in massive flooding after the inadequate levee system failed. Over 1,300 people died, millions were displaced, and the response by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency was seen by many as being inadequate. Hurricane Katrina was only a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall, but its strength combined with the failure of the 1 Catastrophes are classed as great if the ability of the region to help itself is overtaxed, making inter-regional or international assistance necessary. This is normally the case when thousands of people are killed, hundreds of thousands made homeless or when a country suffers substantial economic losses. 2

3 flood protection system led to economic losses in the range of $150 to $200 billion an historical record in the United States for a natural disaster. Given the massive economic losses from the March 2011 Japan earthquake and resulting tsunami, the year 2011 was the most costly year on record for disasters globally: $370 billion (Swiss Re, 2011a). FIGURE 1. NATURAL CATASTROPHES WORLDWIDE OVERALL AND INSURED LOSSES ($ BILLION) Sources: Munich Re Geo Risks Research Insured losses have dramatically increased as well. Between 1970 and the mid-1980s, annual insured losses from natural disasters worldwide (including forest fires) were only in the $3 billion to $4 billion range. Hurricane Hugo, which made landfall in Charleston, South Carolina, on September 22, 1989, was the first natural disaster in the United States to inflict more than $1 billion of insured losses, with insured losses of $4.2 billion (1989 prices). During the period 2001 to 2010, insured losses from weather-related disasters alone averaged $30 billion annually (Swiss Re, 2011b). Table 1 ranks the 25 most costly insured catastrophes that occurred in the world over the period The data reveals that the majority of these disasters occurred in the United States, and fifteen since 2001, due in part to the high concentration of values at risk and the high degree of insurance penetration compared to less developed countries. 3

4 TABLE 1. THE 25 MOST COSTLY INSURED IN THE WORLD, $ billion Event Victims (dead or missing) At a more aggregate level, one can estimate the economic impact of disasters by determining the losses in relation to the country s annual GDP. A major flood in the U.S. or a 4 Year Area of primary damage 48.6 Hurricane Katrina 1, USA, Gulf of Mexico, et al. 37 9/11 Attacks 3, USA 24.8 Hurricane Andrew USA, Bahamas 20.6 Northridge Earthquake USA 17.9 Hurricane Ike USA, Caribbean, et al Hurricane Ivan USA, Caribbean, et al. 14 Hurricane Wilma USA, Gulf of Mexico, et al Hurricane Rita USA, Gulf of Mexico, et al. 9.3 Hurricane Charley USA, Caribbean, et al. 9 Typhoon Mireille Japan 8 Maule earthquake (Mw: Chile 8.8) 8 Hurricane Hugo Puerto Rico, USA, et al Winter Storm Daria Winter Storm Lothar Winter Storm Kyrill Storms and floods Hurricane Frances Winter Storm Vivian France, UK, et al France, Switzerland, et al Germany, UK, NL, France France, UK, et al USA, Bahamas Western/Central Europe 5.3 Typhoon Bart Japan Hurricane Georges Earthquake (Mw: 7.0) Tropical Storm Alison USA, Caribbean New Zealand USA 4.4 Hurricane Jeanne 3, USA, Caribbean, et al. 4.1 Typhoon Songda Japan, South Korea 3.8 Storms USA Sources: Authors calculation. Data from Swiss Re and Insurance Information Institute (in 2010 prices) Impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

5 large European country will have much less impact on GDP than a similar event occurring in a developing country. In the United States where the GDP is nearly US$15 trillion, even a US$250 billion loss will have an impact on GDP that is less than 2 percent. By contrast, in Myanmar, a 2 percent GDP loss would be associated with damages in the range of US$1.8 billion. Smaller countries also often have a more limited geographical spread of their economic assets relative to the spatial impact of disasters, and are subject to more direct, indirect, and downstream losses. Smaller countries like island nations can also face increased disaster risks by not only having a smaller economy, but by also having a larger proportion of their total land exposed to hazard (UNDP, 2004). Using annual GDP to measure the relative economic impact of a disaster does not necessarily reveal the impact of the catastrophe on the affected region, however; property damage, business interruption, real estate prices and tax revenues could be severely impacted locally but not be large enough to have an impact on the GDP. The long-term effects of disasters on a country s GDP can also vary based on the state of development of the country, the size of the event, and the overall economic vulnerability of the country. Potentially negative long-term economic effects after a disaster include the increase of the public deficit and the worsening of the trade balance (demand for imports increase and exports decrease). For example, after Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Honduras experienced total direct and indirect losses that were 80 percent of its GDP (Mechler, 2003). Fatalities Natural disasters also have a much higher devastating human impact in low-income countries than in the developed world. The Bhola cyclone in the Ganges Delta in 1970 killed an estimated 500,000 in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and is classified as one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. In recent years, the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia killed between 225,000 and 275,000; the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 killed approximately 230,000 (CBC News, 2010). The historical floods in Pakistan in the summer of 2010 killed 2,000 and affected 20 million people. These fatalities have a long-term impact on the development potential for a country. A population weakened by a natural disaster can often lack the organizational capacity to maintain social assets, making communities more vulnerable. In addition to the loss of social assets, losses in sanitation, education, health, housing, etc., can further cripple an already affected nation (UNISDR/World Bank, 2011). Increasing Population in High Risk Areas Driving the aforementioned increasing losses from natural disasters are two socioeconomic factors that directly influence the level of economic damage: degree of urbanization and value at risk. In 1950, about 30 percent of the world s population (2.5 billion people) lived in cities. In 2000, about 50 percent of the world s population (6 billion) lived in cities. Projections by the United Nations show that by 2025, this figure will have increased up to 60 percent as the population reaches 8.3 billion people. A direct consequence of this trend is the 5

6 increasing number of so-called mega-cities with population above 10 million. In 1950, New York City was the only such mega-city. In 1990, there were 12 such cities. By 2015, there are estimated to be 26, including Tokyo (29 million), Shanghai (18 million), New York (17.6 million), and Los Angeles (14.2 million) (Crossett, et. al., 2004). With respect to the developing world, Istanbul, a city subject to losses from earthquakes, has significantly increased in population over the past 60 years from less than 1 million in 1950 to more than 13 million by the end of This makes the Istanbul metropolitan area the third largest one in Europe after London and Moscow. In India, about 48 percent of the land is prone to cyclones, 68 percent to droughts and more than 40 million hectares (nearly 1/8th of India) are prone to floods (Government of India, 2004). Ten of the deadliest disasters since 1970 occurred in this country. Furthermore, several large cities in India subject to natural disasters are very densely populated. Mumbai (20 million people) has a population density of over 20,000 inhabitants per square kilometer. Between 1998 and 2011, the world s population increased from 6 to 7 billion. In the next 10 to 15 years, we can expect another billion people on planet Earth. Most of those individuals will reside in urban areas in developing countries subject to natural disasters. The need to build resilient communities is thus greater than ever before. Increasing Government Disaster Relief The upward trend in losses has had an impact on post disaster relief to assist the affected communities in rebuilding destroyed infrastructure 2 and providing temporary housing to displaced victims. In the United States, federal and state governments have played an increasingly important role in providing such relief. Under the current U.S. system, the Governor of the state(s) can request that the President declare a "major disaster" and offer special assistance if the damage is severe enough. Although the President does not determine the amount of aid (the House and Senate do), the President is responsible for a crucial step in the process. A look at the number of U.S. presidential disaster declarations since 1953 clearly reveals an upward trend (see Figure 2). Overall, the number of Presidential disaster declarations has dramatically increased over time, from 191 declarations over the decade to 597 for the period (Michel- Kerjan and Kunreuther, 2011). As Figure 2 also shows, many of the peak years correspond to presidential election years. This is consistent with recent research that reveals that Presidential election years spur disaster assistance. 3 -Four salient examples are the Alaska earthquake (March 1964) Tropical Storm Agnes (June 1972), Hurricane Andrew (September 1992) and the four Florida hurricanes (August-September 2004). In 1996 and 2008 (both presidential election years) there were 75 presidential declarations. This record number was exceeded in 2010 when there were 81 major disaster declarations, and again in 2011 with 99 declarations. 2 On the question of protection of critical infrastructures, see Auerswald et al. (2006). 3 Reeves (2004, 2005) shows that a battleground state with 20 electoral votes received more than twice as many Presidential disaster declarations as a state with only three electoral votes. 6

7 FIGURE 2. U.S. DISASTER PRESIDENTIAL DECLARATIONS PER YEAR, The more pronounced role of the federal government in assisting disaster victims can also be seen by examining several major disasters occurring in the past 50 years as shown in Table 2. 4 TABLE 2: ROLE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN DISASTER RELIEF Disaster Federal aid as % of total damage Hurricane Ike (2008) 69% Hurricane Katrina (2005) 50% Hurricane Hugo (1989) 23% Hurricane Diane (1955) 6% Sources: Michel-Kerjan and Volkman Wise (2011) Media coverage in the immediate aftermath of catastrophes often raises compassion for victims of the tragedy. 5 The magnitude of the destruction often leads governmental agencies to provide disaster relief to victims, even if the government claimed that it had no intention of doing so before the disaster occurred. This inconsistent behavior has been termed the natural disaster syndrome (Kunreuther, 1996). The expectation of governmental funding results in economic disincentives for people and businesses to reduce their own exposure and/or purchase proper insurance coverage (Michel- Kerjan and Volkman Wise, 2011). 6 If individuals assume that they will be bailed out after a 4 See Cummins, Suher and Zanjani (2010) for a more systematic analysis of government exposure to extreme events. 5 Moss (2002; 2010) and Eisensee and Stromberg (2007) have shown the critical role played by increasing media coverage of disasters in increasing government relief in the United States. See Kunreuther and Miller (1985) for a discussion on the evolution of disaster relief in the 1980s. See also Raschky and Schwindt (2009) and Jaffee and Russell (2012). 6 It is surprising how little data is publicly available on how much victims of disaster actually receive as direct aid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a series of disaster relief programs, but most of them are 7

8 disaster, why should they purchase insurance or avoid locating in high-risk areas? 7 The irony is that governmental disaster relief is usually earmarked to rebuild destroyed infrastructure, not as direct aid to the victims. To the extent that a large portion of such disaster relief goes to the states, post-disaster assistance also distorts the incentives of state and local governments to prefinance their disaster losses through insurance and other mechanisms. Insurance can play an important role in dealing with these losses by providing financial protection following a disaster and encouraging property owners living and working in hazard prone areas to invest in cost-effective mitigation measures. As we will demonstrate below, however, many individuals do not purchase insurance voluntarily, nor do they invest in mitigation measures prior to a disaster. Furthermore, many individuals who purchase coverage cancel their policies several years later if they haven t suffered a loss. In the case of flood insurance, many of these uninsured individuals were required to buy a policy as a condition for a mortgage and to keep it for the length of the mortgage. Role of State Insurance Regulators In addition to increasing federal relief, state and federal governments play a much more active role in catastrophe insurance markets than they did 10 or 20 years ago (as regulator and trough more risk-sharing). Rate suppression by insurance regulators are not uncommon, especially in coastal areas. State insurance commissioners have constrained premiums in some hurricane-prone coastal regions by either suppressing the rates private insurers would like to charge, and/or by providing coverage through state operations such as Florida s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. These state pools subsidize rates to homeowners residing in hurricane-prone areas that undercut private insurers premiums (Klein, 2007; Kunreuther and Michel-Kerjan, 2011). Since the hurricane seasons, several states have increased the market share of their state-run wind pools. For instance, Citizens is now the largest provider of homeowners insurance in Florida, with nearly 1.5 million policyholders as of April Outline of the Chapter This chapter is organized as follows. Section 2 proposes two principles for guiding the development of new catastrophe insurance programs. Section 3 highlights how investment in cost-effective mitigation can reduce future losses. Section 4 discusses why homeowners and businesses do not voluntarily invest in these protective measures and Section 5 suggests ways to encourage their adoption. Section 6 proposes that public and private insurers consider offering multi-year insurance (MYI) contracts tied to the property as a way of ensuring coverage in loan-based (e.g. Small Business Administration s program). This can address the liquidity issues that victims and their families face after a disaster, but does not transfer the loss to a third party, as insurance does. 7 See Browne and Hoyt (2000) for a discussion of the notion of charity hazard. 8 There are other insurance programs in which the liability of the federal government is very significant as well, such as flood insurance, crop insurance and terrorism risk. See Brown (2010) for a review. 8

9 hazard-prone areas and encouraging adoption of mitigation measures. Section 7 show how MYI could be adapted to cover flood losses through a modification of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and suggests future research directions for applying this concept to other extreme events. While the U.S. market is an illustrative example in this chapter, we believe that our discussion and proposals apply to many other developed countries (OECD, 2008; 2009). 2. Guiding Principles for Insurance For insurance to play a key role in the management and financing of catastrophic risks, we propose the following two guiding principles that are discussed in greater detail in Kunreuther and Michel Kerjan (2011): Principle 1 Premiums Should Reflect Risk: Insurance premiums should be based on risk to provide signals to individuals as to the hazards they face and to encourage them to engage in cost-effective mitigation measures to reduce their vulnerability to catastrophes. Risk-based premiums should also reflect the cost of capital insurers need to integrate into their pricing to assure adequate return to their investors. Principle 1 provides a clear signal of the expected damage to those currently residing in areas subject to natural disasters and those who are considering moving into these regions. Insurers will also have an economic incentive to reduce premiums to homeowners and businesses who invest in cost-effective loss-reduction mitigation measures. If Principle 1 is applied in hazardprone areas where premiums are currently subsidized, some residents will be faced with large price increases. This concern leads to the second guiding principle. Principle 2 Dealing with Equity and Affordability Issues: Any special treatment given to residents currently residing in hazard-prone areas (e.g. low income homeowners) should come from general public funding and not through insurance premium subsidies. It is important to note that Principle 2 applies only to those individuals who currently reside in hazard-prone areas. Those who decide to locate in the area in the future will be charged premiums that reflect the risk. Determining Risk-Based Premiums Catastrophe models have been developed and improved over the past 20 years to more accurately assess the likelihood and damages resulting from disasters of different magnitudes and intensities. Although there is uncertainty surrounding these figures, insurers and reinsurers have utilized the estimates from these models much more systematically to determine risk-based premiums and how much coverage to offer in hazard-prone areas. Regulators should permit insurers to price their policies based on these risk assessments. If one allows a competitive market to operate, then insurers would not engage in price-gouging since they would be undercut by another company who would know that it could profitably 9

10 market policies at a lower price. Regulators would still have an important role by requiring that insurers have sufficient surplus to protect consumers against the possibility of their becoming insolvent following the next severe disaster. Affordability of Coverage Although issues of affordability of insurance have been widely discussed by the media, little economic analysis has been undertaken to examine how serious the problem is today. Using data from the American Housing Survey on eight cities in four states exposed to hurricane risks (Florida, New York, South Carolina and Texas), it was found that between 16 percent (Dallas) and 31 percent (Tampa) of owner-occupied homes are owned by households that cannot afford insurance using 200 percent of the federal poverty line as the threshold level. At 125 percent of the federal poverty line, the percentage varies from nearly 7 percent in Dallas to 17 percent in Tampa. Among low-income households judged unable to afford insurance, a large fraction of homes are nevertheless insured, even when there is no mortgage requiring coverage. Fewer than 27 percent of low-income homeowners (San Antonio; 125 percent of the federal poverty line) fail to purchase insurance coverage in any of the cities studied. Any plan that directs subsidies to all low-income homeowners will allocate much of the payment to those who are already insured. In summary, these data reveal that many homeowners whose income is below the 100 or 200 percent of poverty level do purchase homeowners insurance while some individuals above this level do not buy this coverage (Kunreuther and Michel-Kerjan, 2011, chapter 11). 9 Equity issues also come into play here. If some homeowners see their premiums jump by thousands of dollars in a single year, they may feel treated unjustly relative to others with similar homes whose premiums remain unchanged. To deal with issues of equity and affordability we recommend that residents be given an insurance voucher. This type of in-kind assistance assures that the recipients use the funds for obtaining insurance rather than having the freedom to spend the money on goods and services of their own choosing. A low-income family in a hazard-prone area would pay a risk-based insurance premium and then be provided with an insurance voucher to cover some fraction of the increased cost of insurance. The amount of the insurance voucher would be determined by the family s income and the magnitude of the increase in the insurance premium. Several existing programs could serve as models for developing such a voucher system: the Food Stamp Program, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Universal Service Fund (USF); we discuss them briefly in Appendix 1. Although a voucher can be justified on equity grounds and can serve as a basis for risk-based premiums there still may be resistance to this concept by real estate developers and builders and middle- and upper-income households who would prefer the current program of subsidized premiums. 9 The analysis was undertaken by Mark Pauly. 10

11 Who Should Provide These Insurance Vouchers? There are several different ways that funds for these vouchers could be obtained that address the general question as to who should pay for the risks faced by those currently residing in hazard-prone areas that deserve special treatment: General taxpayer. If one takes the position that everyone in society is responsible for assisting those residing in hazard-prone areas, then one could utilize general taxpayer revenue from the federal government to cover the costs of insurance vouchers. The Food Stamp and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Programs operate in this manner, State government. An alternative (or complementary) source of funding would be to tax residents and/or commercial enterprises in the state exposed to natural disaster. States obtain significant financial benefits from economic development in their jurisdictions through the collection of property taxes or other revenue such as gasoline taxes, state income taxes or sales taxes. If residents in coastal areas receive greater benefits from the economic development in these regions than others in the state, they should be taxed proportionately more than those residing inland. Insurance policyholders. A tax could be levied on insurance policyholders to provide vouchers to those currently residing in hazard-prone areas who require special treatment. The rationale for this type of tax would be that all homeowners (as opposed to all taxpayers) should be responsible for helping to protect those who cannot afford protection, a rationale that is the basis for the Universal Service Fund that provides affordable telephone service to all residents in the country. The above risk-sharing programs reflect different views as to who should pay for losses from natural disasters. By examining who bears the costs and who reaps the benefits from each of these proposed risk-sharing arrangements, political leaders could make more informed decisions. 3. Reducing Losses through Mitigation Measures While insurance can play an important role in hedging some of the financial losses due to natural disasters and other extreme events, it is also critical to find effective ways for it to encourage mitigation so as to reduce the human and social consequences from future natural disasters. We now show how loss reduction measures can significantly reduce the economic impact of hurricanes as an illustrative example. More specifically we compared the impact of damage from hurricanes making landfall in New York, Texas, South Carolina and Florida if all property conformed to the most recent building codes (2002 or later ones) with the case where no mitigation measures were in place. 10 Table 3 indicates the differences in losses for hurricanes with return periods of 100, 250 and 500 years for each of the above four states with and without 10 For our Florida analysis, we assumed that the homes met the standards of the Fortified for Safer Living program. Information on this program is available on the website of the Institute for Business and Home Safety at as of June The benefit analysis was undertaken by the authors in partnership with Risk Management Solutions (RMS). For more detail about the methodology, see Kunreuther and Michel-Kerjan (2011). 11

12 loss-reduction measures in place. The analysis reveals that mitigation has the potential to reduce hurricane losses significantly in all four states, ranging from 61 percent in Florida for a 100-year hurricane to 31 percent in New York for a 500-year event. TABLE 3. SAVING FROM REDUCED LOSSES FROM MITIGATION FOR DIFFERENT RETURN PERIODS 100-Year Event 250-Year Event 500-Year Event State Unmitigated Losses Savings from reduced losses from mitigation Savings from Mitigation (%) Unmitigated Losses Savings from reduced losses from mitigation Savings from Mitigation (%) Unmitigated Losses Savings from reduced losses from mitigation Savin from Mitiga (%) FL $84 billion $51 billion 61% $126 billion $69 billion 55% $160 billion $83 billion 52 NY $6 billion $2 billion 39% $13 billion $5 billion 37% $19 billion $7 billion 35 SC $4 Billion $2 billion 44% $7 billion $3 billion 41% $9 billion $4 billion 39 TX $17 billion $6 billion 34% $27 billion $9 billion 32% $37 billion $12 billion 31 Figure 3 depicts these differences in losses graphically for hurricanes with return periods of 100, 250 and 500 years for each of the four states studied. Effects of Mitigation on a 100-Year Event Losses ($ Billions) Savings from Mitigation Remaining Losses FL NY SC TX State 12

13 Effects of Mitigation on a 250-Year Event Losses ($Billions) Savings from Mitigation Remaining Losses FL NY SC TX State Effects of Mitigation on a 500-Year Event Losses ($ Billions) Savings from Mitigation Remaining Losses FL NY SC TX State Source: Kunreuther and Michel-Kerjan (2011) FIGURE 3. IMPACT OF MITIGATION ON HURRICANE LOSSES 13

14 4. Lack of Interest in Undertaking and Promoting Mitigation Measures Knowledge of the most cost-effective mitigation measures has significantly increased in the past 20 years. Yet recent extreme events have highlighted the challenges in encouraging homeowners to invest in ways to reduce losses from hurricanes and other natural hazards. We first turn to studies revealing the lack of interest by homeowners on investing in these measures voluntarily and then turn to the failure of insurers and politicians to promote these measures. Empirical Evidence on Homeowner Behavior A 1974 survey of more than 1,000 California homeowners in earthquake-prone areas revealed that only 12 percent of the respondents had adopted any protective measures (Kunreuther et al., 1978). Fifteen years later, there was little change despite the increased public awareness of the earthquake hazard. In a 1989 survey of 3,500 homeowners in four California counties at risk from earthquakes, only 5 to 9 percent of the respondents in these areas reported adopting any loss reduction measures (Palm et al., 1990). Burby et al. (1988) and Laska (1991) found a similar reluctance by residents in flood-prone areas to invest in mitigation measures. Even after the devastating 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, a large number of residents had still not invested in relatively inexpensive loss-reduction measures with respect to their property, nor had they undertaken emergency preparedness measures. A survey of 1,100 adults living along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts undertaken in May 2006 revealed that 83 percent of the responders had taken no steps to fortify their home, 68 percent had no hurricane survival kit and 60 percent had no family disaster plan (Goodnough, 2006). The situation has improved somewhat in the last several years. In a survey of nearly 800 residents in coastal counties during Hurricane Irene in 2011, 89 percent of respondents in North Carolina and 88 percent in New York indicated doing at least one storm preparation activity (e.g., water and food reserve, buying batteries). But those were mainly short-term preparation actions that required limited effort. Many fewer households undertake protective measures when preparedness requires more effort and substantial resources. For instance, less than half of storm shutter owners in the state of New York who responded to the phone survey actually installed them to protect their windows before the hurricane came. The others did not because it would have taken too long. This is an interesting example of mitigation measures being purchased but not utilized (Baker, Czajkowski and Meyer, 2012). In the case of flood damage, Burby (2006) provides compelling evidence that actions taken by the federal government, such as building levees, may make residents feel totally safe, when in fact, they are still at risk for catastrophes should the levee be breached or overtopped. Gilbert White (1945) pointed out that when these projects are constructed, there is increased development in these protected areas. Should a catastrophic disaster occur so that residents of the area are flooded, the damage is likely to be considerably greater than before the flood-control 14

15 project was initiated. This behavior with its resulting consequences has been termed the levee effect. Public officials exacerbate the problem by not enforcing building codes and imposing zoning restrictions. Failure of Insurers to Promote Investment in Mitigation Measures There are at least three principal reasons why many insurers do not systematically encourage homeowners to adopt of risk reduction measures. A principal factor is that current state regulations often require insurers to charge artificially low premiums that eliminate their incentive to offer discounts to those who invest in mitigation measures. Even if premiums accurately reflected risk, insurers have concluded that the price reduction would be perceived as small relative to the upfront cost of the mitigation measure, and hence would be viewed as unattractive by the policyholder. For example, the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association discounts for mitigation are quite low: 3 to 5 percent for bracing, garage door bracing, roof straps and about 10 percent for superior roof sheathing attachment (Grace and Klein, 2002). Additionally, insurers would need to inspect the property to make sure the protection measures were in place a costly process for each individual piece of property on the residential market (Kunreuther, Pauly and McMorrow, 2012). 11 Failure to confirm that appropriate risk-reduction measures are in place can be very costly when a hurricane does occur. Insurers learned this lesson following Hurricane Andrew when experts indicated that 25 percent of the insured losses from this hurricane could have been prevented through better building code compliance and enforcement (Insurance Services Office, 1994). Politicians Lack of Interest in Mitigating Losses from Disasters Elected officials do little to encourage their constituencies to invest in mitigation investments prior to a disaster (ex ante) because they believe that their constituencies are not concerned about these events. Yet there is likely to be a groundswell of support for generous assistance to victims from the public sector after a disaster (ex post) to aid their recovery. Should elected representatives push for residents and businesses to invest in cost-effective mitigation measures to prevent or limit the occurrence of a disaster? From a long-term perspective, the answer is yes. Clearly, taxpayers will pay less in the long run if their money is used for preparation and mitigation before catastrophe strikes. But given short-term re-election considerations, the representative is likely to vote for measures that allocate taxpayers money where they yield more political capital. The difficulty in promoting these mitigation measures has been characterized as the politician s dilemma (Michel-Kerjan, 2008). This lack of interest in mitigation applies to city buildings as well. A survey of facilities and buildings owned and leased by Cities and Counties in the Bay area in California in Insurers are typically more proactive at working with their commercial clients to reduce their exposure. Those prices are not regulated and the premium for each contract is typically fairly substantial, providing an incentive for the insurers to inspect each commercial building it covers (Auerswald et al. 2006) 15

16 revealed that nearly half had not even evaluated the vulnerability of building contents in their facilities. A more positive finding was that 55 percent (46 local governments) had abandoned, retrofitted, or replaced at least one of their own facilities due to identified earthquake risk (Association of Bay Area Governments, 2002). One still could ask why all of them had not undertaken a probabilistic risk assessment of their buildings given the well-known earthquake risk in California. Economic and Behavioral Explanations for Underinvestment in Mitigation 12 Why are individuals and communities reluctant to invest in mitigation when the longterm benefits are significant? To explore this issue it is useful to begin by reviewing how a homeowner who maximizes expected-utility should ideally make mitigation decisions. With this EU model as a benchmark, one can examine how heuristics and simplified decision rules foster actions that depart from economic rationality. Consider the Lowlands, a hypothetical family whose New Orleans home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. They have decided to rebuild their property in the same location but are unsure whether they want to invest in a flood reduction measure (e.g., by elevating their home, sealing the foundation of the structure, and waterproofing the walls). 13 If the flood-proofing measure costs $20,000, should they make the investment? Suppose that the family knows that it will be living in their new home for T years, and that there is an annual probability pt of a Katrina-like flood in year t. Should such an event occur, the annual benefit of a loss reduction measure will be denoted as B. In this case, the decision to mitigate could be made by observing whether the disutility associated with the upfront cost (C) of mitigation is less than the positive utility associated with the discounted stream of benefits (B); i.e., if u(w-c) < T t=1 pt u(w-b) t (1) where W is the Lowlands current wealth, β is the family s discount rate, and u(x) is their utility associated with the benefit (B) or cost (C). On the surface, the problem would seem a natural candidate for utilizing expected utility theory. To simplify the problem, the Lowlands could first determine where they should invest in mitigation if they were neutral with respect to risk. If the long-term expected benefits of protection, discounted appropriately to reflect the time value of money, exceeded the upfront costs of the measure, then they should undertake this action. The expected utility model implies that the Lowlands would be even more interested in investing in mitigation if they were averse to the risk of large losses from future disasters. 12 This section is based on Kunreuther, Meyer and Michel-Kerjan (in press). 13 A discussion of alternative flood reduction measures can be found in Laska (1991) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (1998). 16

17 However, if the family were to attempt such an analysis they would quickly realize that they lack most of the critical information needed to make the relevant comparison of costs and benefits. For example, the future economic benefit of mitigation conditional on a flood is highly uncertain. It depends not only on the quality of implementation (which is unobservable) but also on future social and economic factors over which the Lowlands have little control. For example, the property value of their home is likely to be affected by whether neighbors make similar investments and whether federal disaster relief will be forthcoming following a disaster. Furthermore, recent empirical research in psychology and behavioral economics has revealed that individuals often utilize informal heuristics that have proven useful for guiding day-to-day decisions in more familiar contexts (Kahneman, 2011). However, they are likely to be unsuccessful when applied to the low-probability, high-stakes situations such as whether to invest in protection against losses from catastrophic events. More specifically, homeowners are likely to utilize simplified choice rules for allocating their limited budget by focusing on shortrun benefits and costs rather than discounting the future exponentially. They also have distorted beliefs about low probabilities and often treat potential disasters as below their threshold level of concern. Budgeting Heuristics The simplest explanation as to why individuals fail to mitigate in the face of transparent risks is affordability. If the Lowland family focused on the upfront cost of flood-proofing their house and have limited disposable income after purchasing necessities, there would be little point in their undertaking a benefit-cost analysis on whether to invest in this measure. They would simply say We cannot afford it. Budget constraints can extend to higher-income individuals if they set up separate mental accounts for different expenditures (Thaler 1999). Under such a heuristic, a homeowner, uncertain of the cost-effectiveness of mitigation, might simply compare the price of the measure to what is typically paid for comparable home improvements. Hence, the $20,000 investment may be seen as affordable by those who frame it as a large improvement similar to installing a new roof, but unaffordable to those who frame it as a repair similar to fixing a leaky faucet. Empirical evidence for this budgeting heuristic comes from a study where many individuals indicated that were willing to pay the same amount for a dead bolt lock when the lease for the apartment was extended from 1 to 5 years. When asked why one individual responded by saying that: $20 is all the dollars I have in the short-run to spend on a lock. If I had more, I would spend more -maybe up to $50. (Kunreuther, Onculer and Slovic, 1998, p. 284). Some residents in coastal zones are likely to be discouraged from buying and installing storm shutters to reduce losses from future hurricanes because the cost exceeds that of the window itself a logical benchmark expenditure. 17

18 Under-weighing the Future Extensive experimental evidence reveals that human temporal discounting tends to be hyperbolic: temporally distant events are disproportionately discounted relative to immediate ones. As an example, people are willing to pay more to have the timing of the receipt of a cash prize accelerated from tomorrow to today, than from the day after tomorrow to tomorrow (in both cases a one-day difference) (Loewenstein and Prelec, 1992). The implication of hyperbolic discounting for mitigation decisions is that residents are asked to invest a tangible fixed sum now to achieve a benefit later that they instinctively undervalue and one that they, paradoxically, hope never to see at all. The effect of placing too much weight on immediate considerations is that the upfront costs of mitigation will loom disproportionately large relative to the delayed expected benefits in losses over time. A homeowner might recognize the need for mitigation, and see it as a worthwhile investment when it is framed as something to be undertaken a few years from now when both upfront costs and delayed benefits are equally discounted. However, when the time arrives to actually make the investment, a homeowner subject to hyperbolic discounting might well get cold feet. Procrastination This tendency to shy away from undertaking investments that abstractly seem worthwhile is exacerbated if individuals have the ability to postpone investments something that would almost always be the case with respect to mitigation. A case in point is the relative lack of preparedness demonstrated by the city of New Orleans and FEMA in advance of Hurricane Katrina in Just two months prior to the storm, the city engaged in a full-scale simulation that graphically demonstrated what would happen should a hurricane of Katrina s strength hit the city, and the city was moving into the heart of an active hurricane season (Brinkley, 2006). Yet, little was done to remedy known flaws in their preparedness plans. What explains the inaction? While emergency planners and the New Orleans Mayor s office were fully aware of the risks the city faced and understood the need for investments in preparedness, there was inherent ambiguity about just what these investments should be and when they should be undertaken. Faced with this uncertainty, planners did what decision makers tend to do when faced with a complex discretionary choice: they opted to defer it to the future, in the (usually false) hope that the correct choices would become clearer and/or more resources would then be available (Tversky and Shafir, 1992). 18

19 To see this effect more formally, imagine the Lowlands view the future benefits of mitigation not in terms of a constant discounting schedule, but rather by the hyperbolic discounting function 1/ k f ( t) t for for t 0 t 0 (2) where 0<k<1 is a constant that reflects the degree to which immediate costs and benefits are given disproportionately more weight than delayed ones (Laibson, 1997; Meyer, Zhao, and Han, 2008). Suppose that it is January 2015 (t=0) and the Lowlands are considering whether it is worthwhile to invest in a mitigation project that would start January As long as costs remain temporally distant, the value of the project will be assessed via the rational inter-temporal discounting model in (1); i.e., the expected net value of the mitigation project, one year from now is: T t V ( I January )) [ p k u( B)] u( C) t 1 t (3) Suppose the Lowlands conclude that the project is minimally worthwhile in January 2015, that is, V(I January)=ε, where ε is a small positive valuation. Hyperbolic discounting carries a curious implication for how the Lowlands will value the project come June 2015 when the prospect of the expenditure C is more immediate. In June 2015, the project will look decidedly less attractive, since it value will now be: T t V ( I June) [ p u( B) k ] u( C) k (4) t t / 1 Hence, if (1/k-β)C>ε, it will no longer seem worthwhile to invest. So will the Lowlands abandon their interest in mitigation? We suggest no for the following reason. If the building offers them the option to restart the project the following January, it will once again seem worthwhile, since its valuation would be given by the standard model in (3). Hence, the Lowlands would be trapped in an endless cycle of procrastination; when viewed from a temporal distance the investment will always seem worthwhile, but when it comes time to undertaking the work the prospect of a slight delay always seems more attractive. The concept of hyperbolic discounting discussed above is distinct from that of planning myopia, or the tendency to consider consequences over too short a finite time horizon. For example, if the Lowlands beliefs about the length of time they would live in their home were biased downward, they would underestimate the benefits of mitigation by using equation (1). Underestimation of Risk Another factor that could suppress investments in mitigation is under-estimation of the likelihood of a hazard formally, under-estimation of pt in (1). Although underestimation of risk 19

20 is perhaps the simplest explanation as to why people fail to mitigate, the empirical evidence in the domain of natural hazards is far more complex. On the one hand, we do know that decisions about mitigation are rarely based on formal beliefs about probabilities. Magat, Viscusi and Huber (1987) and Camerer and Kunreuther (1989), for example, provide considerable empirical evidence that individuals do not seek out information on probabilities in making their decisions. In a study by Huber, Wider and Huber (1997), only 22 percent of subjects sought out probability information when evaluating risk managerial decisions. When consumers are asked to justify their decisions on purchasing warranties for products that may need repair, they rarely use probability as a rationale for purchasing this protection (Hogarth and Kunreuther, 1995). There is also evidence that people tend to ignore risks when they view the likelihood of its occurrence as falling below some threshold level of concern. In a laboratory experiments on financially protecting themselves against a loss by purchasing insurance or a warranty, many individuals bid zero for coverage, apparently viewing the probability of a loss as sufficiently small that they were not interested in protecting themselves against it (McClelland et al., 1993; Schade et al., 2011). Many homeowners residing in communities that are potential sites for nuclear waste facilities have a tendency to dismiss the risk as negligible (Oberholzer-Gee, 1998). Even experts in risk disregard some hazards. After the first terrorist attack against the World Trade Center in 1993, terrorism risk continued to be included as an unnamed peril in most commercial insurance policies in the United States. Insurers were thus liable for losses from a terrorist attack without their ever receiving a penny for this coverage (Kunreuther and Michel- Kerjan, 2004). Following 9/11 insurers and their reinsurers had to pay over $35 billion in claims due to losses from the terrorist attacks, at that time the most cost event in the history of insurance worldwide, now second only to Hurricane Katrina. Affective Forecasting Errors In our example, the Lowlands are assumed to value benefits from mitigation realized in the distant future in the same way that they would be valued if realized now. How likely is this assumption to be empirically valid? There are extensive bodies of work showing that individuals tend to be both poor forecasters of future affective states (e.g., Wilson and Gilbert, 2003), and focus on different features of alternatives when they are viewed in the distant future versus today. Probably the most problematic of these biases for mitigation decisions is the tendency for affective forecasts to be subject to what Loewenstein, O Donoghue, and Rabin (2003) term the projection bias a tendency to anchor beliefs about how we will feel in the future on what is being felt in the present. Because mitigation decisions are ideally made in tranquil times before a disaster is forecast, the projection bias predicts a tendency for decision makers to both underestimate the likelihood of future hazards and the feelings of trauma that such events can induce a bias leads to undervaluation of investments in protection. 20

21 A common theme heard from survivors of Hurricane Katrina who were trapped in the area was, Had I known it would be this bad, I would have left. In reality, the storm was preceded by warnings of the most dire sort, that Katrina was the big one that New Orleans residents had been warned to fear for years (Brinkley, 2006). It is one thing to imagine being in a large-scale flood, quite another to actually be in one. Judgments of the severity of the experienced were unavoidably biased downward by the relative tranquility of life before the storm. The tendency to value costs and benefits differently depending on temporal perspective is another mechanism that could result in procrastination. Trope and Lieberman (2003) offer a wide array of evidence showing that when making choices for the distant future we tend to focus on the abstract benefits, whereas when making immediate choices we tend to focus on concrete costs. Hence, similar to the predictions made by hyperbolic discounting, it would not be uncommon to hear politicians pledge their deep commitment to building safer societies at election-time (when costs seem small relative to abstract benefits), but then back away from this pledge when the time comes to actually make the investment when it is the concrete costs that loom larger. Moving in the Next Few Years If a family is planning to move in the next several years and believes that the investment in a mitigation measures will not be captured through an increase in the valuation of their home, then it may be normatively appropriate not to incur the upfront cost of the disaster-reduction measure. In such cases, the investment expenditure will be greater than the discounted expected reduction in losses during the time that the family expects to be in their house. Grace and Klein (2002) interviewed several realtors in California and Florida who indicated that homeowners could recover 100 percent of their investments in mitigation when they sold their homes. It would be important to get more empirical evidence on this aspect from housing markets and if confirmed it would be important for this information to be conveyed to residents in hazard-prone areas. 5. Encouraging Mitigation Measures through Public-Private Sector Initiatives As we have just discussed, there may be good reasons why homeowners do not invest in cost-effective mitigation measures on their own unless required to do so. This section briefly discusses six proposals to encourage the adoption of cost-effective mitigation measures using 1) long-term loans; 2) seals of approvals; 3) tax incentives; 4) well-enforced building codes; 5) zoning ordinances; 6) holding political officials legally responsible for avoidable damage; and 7) providing information on the long-term benefits of mitigation. Proposal 1: Long-Term Mitigation Loans Long-term loans for mitigation would encourage individuals to invest in cost-effective risk reduction measures. Consider a property owner who could invest $1,500 to reinforce his roof to reduce wind damage by $30,000 from a future hurricane that has an annual probability of 21

22 occurrence of 1 in 100. If insurers charged actuarially fair premiums, the annual price of insurance would be reduced by $300 (i.e., 1/100 x $30,000). If the house was expected to last for 10 or more years, the net present value of the expected benefit of investing in this measure would exceed the upfront cost at an annual discount rate as high as 15 percent. Many property owners might be reluctant to incur the $1,500 expenditure, because they would get only $300 back next year and are likely to consider only short-term benefits when making their decisions. In addition, budget constraints and heuristics could discourage them from investing in the mitigation measure. A 20-year $1,500 home improvement loan at an annual interest rate of 10 percent would result in payments of $145 per year. Even if the insurance premium was only reduced by $200, the savings to the homeowner each year would be $55 plus the resulting mortgage interest tax deductible amount. Other considerations would also play a role in a family s decision not to invest in these measures. The family may not be sure how long they will reside in the house and whether their property value will reflect the investment in the mitigation measure should they sell it. They may not be clear on whether their insurer will renew their policy and if so will continue to provide them with premium discounts for having invested in the mitigation measure. These points will be addressed in the next section when we discuss multi-year insurance contracts. Proposal 2: Providing Mitigation Seals of Approval Homeowners who adopt cost-effective mitigation measures should receive a seal of approval from a certified inspector that the structure meets or exceeds building code standards. This requirement could either be legislated or imposed by the existing government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae) as a condition for obtaining a mortgage. Homeowners may want to seek such a seal of approval if they knew that insurers would provide a premium discount (similar to the discounts that insurers now make available for smoke detectors or burglar alarms), and if home improvement loans were available for this purpose. A seal of approval could increase the property value of the home by informing potential buyers that damage from future disasters is likely to be reduced because the mitigation measure is in place. There are other direct financial benefits from having a seal of approval. Under the Fortified for safer living program of the Institute for Business & Home Safety, an independent inspector, trained by IBHS, verifies that disaster resistance features have been built into the home that exceed the minimum requirement of building codes and may enable the property owner to receive homeowners insurance credits in some states (IBHS 2007). The success of such a program requires the support of the building industry and a sufficient number of qualified inspectors to provide accurate information as to whether existing codes and standards are being met or exceeded. Such a certification program can be very useful to insurers who may choose to provide coverage only to those structures that are given a certificate of disaster resistance. Evidence from a July 1994 telephone survey of 1,241 residents in six hurricane-prone areas on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts provides supporting evidence for some type of seal of 22

23 approval. Over 90 percent of the respondents felt that local home builders should be required to adhere to building codes, and 85 percent considered it very important that local building departments conduct inspections of new residential construction. Certified contractors would perform the inspections required to establish a seal of approval. For new properties, the contractor must provide the buyer with this seal of approval. For existing properties, the buyer should pay for the inspection and satisfy the guidelines for a seal of approval. If the house does not satisfy the criteria, then banks and other mortgage lenders should roll into their mortgage loans the cost of such improvements. Proposal 3: Providing Local, State and Federal Tax Incentives Communities/cities could provide tax incentives to encourage residents to pursue mitigation measures. If a homeowner reduces the chances of damage from a hurricane by installing a loss reduction measure, then this property owner could get a rebate or reduction on state taxes and/or property taxes. In practice, communities often create a monetary disincentive to invest in mitigation. Those who improve their home by making it safer are likely to have their property reassessed at a higher value and, hence, be required to pay higher taxes. California has recognized this problem, and in 1990 voters passed Proposition 127, which exempts seismic rehabilitation improvements to buildings from reassessments that would increase property taxes. The city of Berkeley in California has taken an additional step to encourage home buyers to retrofit newly purchased homes by instituting a transfer tax rebate. The city has a 1.5 percent tax levied on property transfer transactions; up to one-third of this amount can be applied to seismic upgrades during the sale of property. Qualifying upgrades include foundation repairs or replacement, wall bracing in basements, shear wall installation, water heater anchoring, and securing of chimneys. South Carolina established Catastrophe Savings Accounts in 2007 that allow residents to set money aside, state income tax-free, to pay for qualified catastrophe expenses. The amount placed in the account reduces the taxpayer's South Carolina taxable income and, as a consequence, reduces the state income tax that the homeowner has to pay. A homeowner may deduct contributions to a Catastrophe Savings Account to cover losses to their legal residence against hurricane, rising floodwaters, or other catastrophic windstorm event damages. 14 South Carolina also offers tax credits for retrofitting, allowing individuals to take state income tax credits for costs to retrofit homes. In order to qualify for the tax credit, costs must not include ordinary repair or replacement of existing items. The homeowner may take a credit in any taxable year for costs associated with specific fortification measures as defined by the Director of Insurance. In addition to obtaining tax credits for retrofitting properties in the 14 Tax incentive programs such as this one should encourage homeowners to take out a larger deductible on their insurance policy and contribute more to the Catastrophe Savings Account. In the process they pay lower insurance premiums and lower taxes at the same time. The insurer benefits by having lower claims following a disaster. If many homeowners take advantage of this program by raising their deductible, the insurer s catastrophic exposure could be significantly reduced. 23

24 mitigation process, consumers will also receive tax credits on the mitigation materials they buy. (For more details on this program see The principal reason for using tax rebates or credits to encourage mitigation is the immediate and longer-term benefits associated with these measures. By reducing damage to property residents are much less likely to have to be housed and fed elsewhere. These added benefits cannot be captured through insurance premium reductions, which normally cover damage only to the property. Taxes are associated with broader units of analysis, such as the community, state, or federal level. To the extent that the savings in disaster relief costs accrue to these units of government, tax rebates are financially beneficial. Residents who undertake these measures can clearly see their taxes reduced the same year they start saving to pay for losses from future disasters. Proposal 4: Enforcing Building Codes Risk-based insurance premiums should be coupled with building codes so that those residing in hazard-prone areas adopt cost-effective loss reduction measures. Following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Florida reevaluated its building code standards and in 1995, coastal areas of the state began to enforce high-wind design provisions for residential housing. The new Florida Building Code (FBC) 2001 edition, adopted in mid-2002, was accompanied by an extensive education and training program that included a requirement that all licensed engineers, architects, and contractors take a course on the new code. 15 Hurricane Charley in 2004 demonstrated the effectiveness of the new statewide building code. One insurance company provided the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) data on 5,636 policies in Charlotte County at the time that this hurricane made landfall on August 13, There were 2,102 reported claims from the hurricane (37 percent of all the homeowners insurance policies in Charlotte County for this insurer). Figure 4 reveals that homes that meet the wind-resistant standards that were enforced in 1996 had a claim frequency that was 60 percent less than those that were built prior to More recent building codes were established in 2004, then in See 24

25 FIGURE 4. AVERAGE CLAIM FREQUENCY BY BUILDING CODE CATEGORY FROM HURRICANE CHARLEY Source: Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) Moreover, this insurer s claims for pre-1996 homes resulted in an average claim of $24 per square foot, compared to $14 per square foot for those constructed between 1996 and 2004, as shown in Figure 5. For an average home of 2,000 square feet, the average damage to each of these homes would be $48,000 and $28,000, respectively. In other words, the average reduction in claims from Hurricane Charley to each damaged home in Charlotte County built according to the newer code was approximately $20,000 (IBHS, 2007). FIGURE 5. AVERAGE CLAIM SEVERITY BY BUILDING CODE CATEGORY FROM HURRICANE CHARLEY 25