Erwann Michel-Kerjan

Erwann Michel-Kerjan
  • Adjunct Associate Professor
  • Executive Director of the Wharton Risk Center

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    556 JMHH
    3730 Walnut Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Links: CV, Wharton Risk Management Center

Overview

Dr. Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan is an authority on managing the risks, the financial impacts, and the public policy challenges associated with catastrophic events.  At Wharton he is the Executive Director of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, which for thirty years has been at the forefront of research and discoveries into how better manage extreme events; he teaches Sustainability and Value Creation in the Wharton MBA program.

Large-scale risks are reshaping the future of our increasingly interdependent world and risk management is becoming an integral part of the strategy of any organization. Dr. Michel-Kerjan actively works with top decision makers helping multinational corporations, governments and rulers address this new risk landscape and create sustainable value. Since 2008 he serves as chairman of the OECD Secretary-General Board on Financial Management of Catastrophes which advises Finance Ministries of the 34 OECD’s member countries on these issues.

Dr. Michel-Kerjan was honored by the World Economic Forum (Davos) as a Young Global Leader, a five year nomination bestowed to recognize and acknowledge the most extraordinary leaders of the world under the age of 40. In 2011 he co-led the YGL G20 Paris initiative on Global Risks under the High Patronage of then-President Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2013-2014 he served as advisor to the Chilean Presidency. He currently serves of the World Economic Forum GRR Advisory Board.

Recipient of the prestigious Kulp-Wright award for the most influential contribution to the literature on risk management (At War with the Weather, MIT Press, 2011, with H. Kunreuther) and of the 2014 Lloyd’s Science of Risk Prize, Dr. Michel-Kerjan has authored or coauthored more than 100 publications on catastrophe risk management and disaster financing, and given over 150 public speeches.  He has testified on several occasions before the US Congress as a subject matter expert and his views regularly appear in leading media. He has studied at Ecole Polytechnique (France), McGill (Canada) and Harvard (USA).

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Research

Erwann Michel-Kerjan has published over 100 publications on catastrophe risk financing, strategic risk management and value creation. A selection of recent published papers appears below.

Teaching

Past Courses

  • OIDD7620 - Envrnmtl Sus&Val Crtn

    This course provides an overview of topics related to corporate sustainability with a focus on how environmentally sustainable approaches can create value for the firm. The course explores trends in corporate practices and students consider specific examples of such practices to examine the interactions between the firm and the environment. This course has three objectives: to increase students' knowledge of sustainability practices and their impact on firm performance; to teach students to think strategically and act entrepreneurially on environmental issues; and to help students design business approaches to improve environmental outcomes, while simultaneously creating value.

Awards And Honors

In the News

Knowledge @ Wharton

Activity

Latest Research

Erwann Michel-Kerjan and Howard Kunreuther (2018), A Successful (Yet Somewhat Untested) Case of Disaster Financing: Terrorism Insurance under TRIA, 2002-2020, Risk Management and Insurance Review. Special Issue -- Focus on Disaster Risk Financing, 21 (1), pp. 157-180.
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In the News

The Economic Impact of Tariffs

Sweeping tariffs would raise new revenue, but they would also depress GDP, wages, and Treasury bond demand and prices, according to the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model.…Read More

Knowledge @ Wharton - 2025/04/22
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Awards and Honors

Science of Risk Prize (Lloyd's) 2014
All Awards