Natural Catastrophe Insurance: How Should the Government Intervene?

40 Pages Posted: 7 May 2011 Last revised: 7 Mar 2014

See all articles by Arthur Charpentier

Arthur Charpentier

Université du Québec à Montréal; Université du Québec à Montréal

Benoit Le Maux

Centre de Recherche en Économie et Management (CREM)

Date Written: March 7, 2014

Abstract

This paper develops a theoretical framework for analyzing the decision to provide or buy insurance against the risk of natural catastrophes. In contrast to conventional models of insurance, the insurer has a non-zero probability of insolvency which depends on the distribution of the risks, the premium rate, and the amount of capital in the company. When the insurer is insolvent, each loss reduces the indemnity available to the victims, thus generating negative pecuniary externalities. Our model shows that government-provided insurance will be more attractive in terms of expected utility, as it allows these negative pecuniary externalities to be spread equally among policyholders. However, when heterogeneous risks are introduced, a government program may be less attractive in safer areas, which could yield inefficiency if insurance ratings are not chosen appropriately.

Keywords: Insurance, Natural Catastrophe, Externalities, Government Intervention, Strong Nash Equilibrium

JEL Classification: G22, G28

Suggested Citation

Charpentier, Arthur and Le Maux, Benoit, Natural Catastrophe Insurance: How Should the Government Intervene? (March 7, 2014). Forthcoming in Journal of Public Economics, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1832624 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1832624

Arthur Charpentier (Contact Author)

Université du Québec à Montréal ( email )

PB 8888 Station DownTown
Succursale Centre Ville
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Université du Québec à Montréal ( email )

Canada

HOME PAGE: http://https://freakonometrics.github.io/

Benoit Le Maux

Centre de Recherche en Économie et Management (CREM) ( email )

7 place Hoche
Rennes, Bretagne 35065
France

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