Disaster insurance protection, public policy lessons.

In two sections: Section 1: Chapt.1-7; Section 2: Chapt.8-10 and appendices

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Examines the public's indifferent attitude toward protection against the consequences of natural hazards, and proposes solutions to overcome this lack of concern. Institutional arrangements associated with marketing flood and earthquake insurance in the United States are discussed and a theoretical framework is developed upon which field surveys and laboratory experiments are based. A detailed analysis of a field survey is presented in which personal comments from 3,000 interviews are incorporated. The study provides detailed characterisitics of the behaviour and attitudes of individuals toward mitigation and relief policies and the characteristics of hazard-prone regions and communities.