Urbanization in exposed areas increases the cost of disasters. For industrial risks, potential victims raise firms’ liabilities. For natural risks, overexposure by some undermines mutualization. Land use policy (particularly exclusion zones) and insurance shape urbanization, but their...

Natural and industrial disasters are major risks with the common specificity of a strong geographic dimension. Their main difference is that compensation for natural disasters relies on solidarity, whereas industrial risks imply the liability of the industrialist. This thesis brings parts of...

The industrialists are liable for any damage they cause to neighboring households. Consequently, households do not have to pay for the risk they create by locating in exposed areas. A common and efficient self-insurance strategy for the firm is to freeze land, or to negotiate land-use...

This paper addresses the urbanization of areas exposed to natural disasters and studies its dependency on land-use and insurance policies. The risk-map paradox that we describe explains why an insurance system with simplistic maps and tariffs is the rule. Indeed, in practice we observe simple...

Insurance coverage for natural disasters remains low in many exposed areas. A limited supply of insurance is commonly identified as a primary causal factor in this low insurance coverage. The French overseas departments provide a rare natural experiment of a well-developed supply of natural...

Prevention policies against flood, such as dams or levees, are commonly designed by local jurisdictions and for most they exert externalities on neighboring jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction chooses its collective prevention effort depending on the insurance system that covers its inhabitants. As...

Les Départements d’Outre Mer (DOM) sont plus exposés aux risques naturels que la métropole. Pourtant, les ménages y sont moins nombreux à être assurés contre les catastrophes naturelles. En France, l’assurance habitation inclut obligatoirement la garantie contre les catastrophes...

Les départements d'Outre-mer (Dom) sont plus exposés aux risques naturels que la France métropolitaine. Pourtant, seuls 52 % des ménages des Dom ont souscrit pour leur résidence principale une assurance habitation, qui inclut obligatoirement la couverture des catastrophes naturelles, alors...

In France comprehensive house insurance includes coverage against natural disasters. Whereas the French overseas departments are more exposed to natural risks than continental France, only 52% of households in overseas departments have purchased house insurance for their main home in 2006,...

Natural risks have major impact on our daily life and on our national, local and individual economy. In the framework of the sustainable development, consistent and effective means of prevention have to be set up. The risk recognition is one of the main factors affecting economic decisions, such...