Natural disasters are called Acts of God, but the severity of their impact depends upon many factors, including state insurance regulations. Insurance provides voluntary, contractual disaster relief - insurers agree to pay disaster losses in exchange for payment of premiums. In the United...

This Policy Comment analyzes the connection between hurricane mitigation and insurance. As many people fail to purchase government-subsidized flood and earthquake insurance, some researchers argue that market failure explains the lack of mitigation. But empirical evidence shows that markets do...