Awarded by the Geneva Association and the International Insurance Society in recognition of his outstanding work on the role of public-private partnerships in mitigating nd managing risk.
Research Interests: decision processes, insurance, low-probability events and decision making, managerial economics, operations management, regulation, risk assessment
Links: CV, Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center
Howard C. Kunreuther is the James G. Dinan Professor Emeritus, Operations, Information and Decisions (OID) Department at the Wharton School, and co-director emeritus of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center. He has a long-standing interest in ways that society can better manage low-probability, high-consequence events related to technological and natural hazards. Professor Kunreuther is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis. Professor Kunreuther received the 2015 Shin Research Excellence Award from the Geneva Association and the International Insurance Society (IIS) in recognition of his outstanding work on the role of public-private partnerships in mitigating and managing risks, as summarized in his paper “The Role of Insurance in Reducing Losses from Extreme Events: The Need for Public–Private Partnerships” (Geneva Papers 2015, 40: 714-762). He served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a Coordinating Lead Author for the chapter on “Integrated Risk and Uncertainty Assessment of Climate Change Response Policies” in the 2014 IPCC report. Notable books include The Future of Risk Management (with R. Meyer and E. O, Michel-Kerjan), Managing Catastrophic Risk: How Companies are Coping with Disruption (with M. Useem), The Ostrich Paradox: Why We Underprepare for Disasters (with R. Meyer), Insurance and Behavioral Economics: Improving Decisions in the Most Misunderstood Industry (with M. Pauly and S. McMorrow) and At War with the Weather (with E. O. Michel-Kerjan).
This course will introduce students to concepts in risk governance. We will delve into the three pillars of risk analysis: risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. The course will spend time on risk financing, including insurance markets. There will be particular emphasis on climate risks, although the course will also discuss several other examples, including pandemics, biodiversity loss, and systemic risks, among others. The course will cover how people perceive risks and the impact this has on risk communication and management. We will explore public policy surrounding risk management and how the public and private sectors can successfully work together to build resilience, particularly to changing risks.
This course will introduce students to concepts in risk governance. We will delve into the three pillars of risk analysis: risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. The course will spend time on risk financing, including insurance markets. There will be particular emphasis on climate risk management, including both physical impact risk and transition risk, although the course will also discuss several other examples, including management of environmental risks, terrorism, and cyber-security, among other examples. The course will cover how people perceive risks and the impact this has on risk management. We will explore public policy surrounding risk management and how the public and private sector can successfully work together to build resilience, particularly to changing risks.
This course will introduce students to concepts in risk governance. We will delve into the three pillars of risk analysis: risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. The course will spend time on risk financing, including insurance markets. There will be particular emphasis on climate risk management, including both physical impact risk and transition risk, although the course will also discuss several other examples, including management of environmental risks, terrorism, and cyber-security, among other examples. The course will cover how people perceive risks and the impact this has on risk management. We will explore public policy surrounding risk management and how the public and private sector can successfully work together to build resilience, particularly to changing risks.
This course will introduce students to concepts in risk governance. We will delve into the three pillars of risk analysis: risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. The course will spend time on risk financing, including insurance markets. There will be particular emphasis on climate risk management, including both physical impact risk and transition risk, although the course will also discuss several other examples, including management of environmental risks, terrorism, and cyber-security, among other examples. The course will cover how people perceive risks and the impact this has on risk management. We will explore public policy surrounding risk management and how the public and private sector can successfully work together to build resilience, particularly to changing risks.
This course will introduce students to concepts in risk governance. We will delve into the three pillars of risk analysis: risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. The course will spend time on risk financing, including insurance markets. There will be particular emphasis on climate risks, although the course will also discuss several other examples, including pandemics, biodiversity loss, and systemic risks, among others. The course will cover how people perceive risks and the impact this has on risk communication and management. We will explore public policy surrounding risk management and how the public and private sectors can successfully work together to build resilience, particularly to changing risks.
This course number is currently used for several course types including independent studies, experimental courses and Management & Technology Freshman Seminar. Instructor permission required to enroll in any independent study. Wharton Undergraduate students must also receive approval from the Undergraduate Division to register for independent studies. Section 002 is the Management and Technology Freshman Seminar; instruction permission is not required for this section and is only open to M&T students. For Fall 2020, Section 004 is a new course titled AI, Business, and Society. The course provides a overview of AI and its role in business transformation. The purpose of this course is to improve understanding of AI, discuss the many ways in which AI is being used in the industry, and provide a strategic framework for how to bring AI to the center of digital transformation efforts. In terms of AI overview, we will go over a brief technical overview for students who are not actively immersed in AI (topic covered include Big Data, data warehousing, data-mining, different forms of machine learning, etc). In terms of business applications, we will consider applications of AI in media, Finance, retail, and other industries. Finally, we will consider how AI can be used as a source of competitive advantage. We will conclude with a discussion of ethical challenges and a governance framework for AI. No prior technical background is assumed but some interest in (and exposure to) technology is helpful. Every effort is made to build most of the lectures from the basics.
This course will introduce students to concepts in risk governance. We will delve into the three pillars of risk analysis: risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. The course will spend time on risk financing, including insurance markets. There will be particular emphasis on climate risk management, including both physical impact risk and transition risk, although the course will also discuss several other examples, including management of environmental risks, terrorism, and cyber-security, among other examples. The course will cover how people perceive risks and the impact this has on risk management. We will explore public policy surrounding risk management and how the public and private sector can successfully work together to build resilience, particularly to changing risks.
Awarded by the Geneva Association and the International Insurance Society in recognition of his outstanding work on the role of public-private partnerships in mitigating nd managing risk.
(with Paul Schoemaker and Paul Kleindorfer) for the program “Decision Sciences Applied to University Problems.” The award is given annually for outstanding achievements in the area of educational innovation in undergraduate education for business administration.
Interview with Howard Kunreuther and Michael Useem on findings from their book, Mastering Catastrophic Risk: How Companies Are Coping with Disruption.
“We need to figure out ways where the State of California, insurers, utilities and residents can take steps to reduce these losses in the future.”
Howard Kunreuther: “There’s a tendency for all of us — not just firms, but individuals — to be myopic,” he says, “to want to get something back in the short term to justify an investment. It often takes a disaster to get people to pay attention.”
Interview with Howard Kunreuther.
Interview with Howard Kunreuther on the preliminary report by the commission set up by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo about how to deal with future extreme storms.
Critics of federal disaster aid contend that paying for building along the ocean provides an incentive for unsustainable behavior. Marty Moss-Coane’s interview with Howard Kunreuther, co-director of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center and Scott Gabriel Knowles, Drexel University associate professor of History & Politics. (Audio: http://soundcloud.com/whyy-public-media/the-moral-hazard-sandy-relief).
Op-ed by Howard Kunreuther and Mark Pauly, co-authors of Insurance and Behavioral Economics: Improving Decisions in the Most Misunderstood Industry.
From the World Economic Forum in Davos: Jim Cantore interviews Howard Kunreuther, Wharton Professor of Operations and Information Management (video).
How long-term insurance can help homeowners in hurricane zones save money and protect themselves at the same time.
Howard Kunreuther was asked by the New York Times’ Freakonomics blogger, Stephen Dubner, to respond to the question,”What Is the State of U.S. Disaster-Preparedness?” A Freakonomics Quorum.
Howard Kunreuther is interviewed about his New York Times op-ed, “Who Will Pay for the Next Hurricane?”
Howard Kunreuther authored an op-ed on financing the costs of natural disasters.
The Risk Center’s Howard Kunreuther is interviewed by Thames Schoenvogel of SNL Financial about the history of the Risk Center and its current Natural Disaster Insurance Project.
The Wharton School’s Howard Kunreuther spent four decades studying ways to manage the risks of floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, chemical accidents, and other natural and technological disasters. Then came 9/11, “the ultimate low-probability event.”
New research co-authored by Wharton's Arthur van Benthem demonstrates how consumers could benefit from aligning electricity prices with the cost of producing and distributing that power.…Read More
Knowledge @ Wharton - 2024/11/12