Risk Management and Decision Processes Center

Past Conferences/Roundtables

2010

The Penn Symposium on Fostering and Financing Long-Term Investments in Prevention and Protection
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
December 13-14, 2010

Co-sponsors: The Wharton School, Penn School of Medicine, Leonard Davis Institute,
Wharton Center for Risk Management and Decision Processes

Academic Directors: David A. Asch, MD (Medicine), Howard Kunreuther (Wharton),
Robert Meyer (Wharton), and Mark Pauly (Wharton)

Objective: Foster cross-field learning on the problem of how to encourage individuals and communities to invest in protection against harm from uncertain future events such as disease, natural hazards, and man-made catastrophes, and to formulate a set of new fundable research projects in this area.  While the problem of how to encourage long-term investments in protection has been studied by multiple fields over the years, progress has often been hindered by the relative absence of interactions among scholars working in different domains, as well as between academics and policy makers.  Hence, the objective of the symposium is to fuse these areas, pooling what we know about:

1. How individuals think about the future and make decisions to invest in protection against future harm;
2. How to encourage people to make such protective investments, be it via persuasive messages, the development of social norms, or by providing explicit financial incentives; and
3. How to manage the cost of long-term prevention as a society, such as how to design long-term health and property insurance contracts given (1) and (2) above) and the implications of all this for public policy.

Roles for Third Parties in Improving Implementation of EPA’s and OSHA’s Regulations
on the Management of Low-Probability, High-Consequence Process Safety Risks

co-sponsored by the Penn Program on Regulation and the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center
November 18, 2010

Proposal on improving implementation of 3rd party audits funded with imposed fees to OSHA and EPA process safety regulations. More here.

Background Paper: Roles for Third Parties in Improving Implementation of EPA’s and OSHA’s Regulations on the Management of LP-HC Process Safety Risks

Marrakech, Morocco, October 27, 2010

The Wharton Risk Center participated in the World Economic Forum's summit on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The session, Navigating through Risk, examined strong risk interconnections, such as those between energy security, water scarcity and underinvestment in infrastructure.

The objective of the session is to arrive at innovative solutions or proposals to a given topic through "open source" collaboration, hence, submitting initial input (expert's opinion piece) for subsequent iterations through the social media prior to the session. Students representing Wharton MBA clubs from the MENA region participated as breakout group via video connection. Visit: http://www.weforum.org/en/events/WorldEconomicForumontheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica/index.htm for more information and to see the forum.

Discussion leaders from the World Economic Forum:

• Falah Al Ahbabi, General Manager, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, United Arab Emirates
• Smail Hamdani, Prime Minister of Algeria (1998-1999); President, Algerian Association of International Relations (ARI), Algeria
• Jafar Hassan, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• Roberto Quarta, Chairman, Europe, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, United Kingdom
• Subramanian Rangan, Professor of Strategy and Management, INSEAD, France
• Geoff Riddell, Member of the Group Executive Committee; Regional Chairman, Asia-Pacific and Middle East, Zurich Financial Services, Switzerland
• Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Managing Director, Wharton Risk Center, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Risk Regulation Seminar Series:
The Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center in conjunction with the Fels Institute of Government, Penn Program on Regulation; and Program on Law, the Environment and the Economy, with support from the Office of the Provost, host an interdisciplinary seminar on risk regulation.

"Ambiguity and Climate Policy"
Geoffrey Heal, Paul Garrett Professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility Columbia Business School
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

"Insurance Incentives for Improving Health Care Behavior"
Tom Baker, Deputy Dean & William Maul Measey Professor of Law and Health, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Kevin Volpp, Associate Professor of Medicine & Health Care Management, Director, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, Center for Health Incentives, University of Pennsylvania
Tuesday, February 22, 2011

"Induced Development in Risky Locations: Fire Suppression and Land Use in the American West"
Carolyn Kousky, Fellow, Resources for the Future
Sheila Olmstead, Fellow, Resources for the Future
Tuesday, January 25, 2011

"Long-term Strategies for Reducing Losses from Extreme Events"
Howard Kunreuther, James G. Dinan Professor; Co-Director, Wharton Risk Management Center
Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Managing Director, Wharton Risk Management Center
Tuesday, November 16, 2010

"Capture by Information: How Information Warfare is Waged in the Administrative State"
Wendy Wagner, Joe A. Worsham Centennial Professor, University of Texas School of Law
October 26, 2010

"Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental Law and the Search for Objectivity"
Douglas Kysar, Joseph M. Field '55 Professor of Law at Yale Law School
Discussants: Kathleen Segerson, Department of Economics, University of Connecticut
Matthew Adler, Leon Meltzer Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
September 28, 2010

2009

Risk Regulation Seminar Series: The Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center in conjunction with the Fels Institute of Government, Penn Program on Regulation; and Program on Law, the Environment and the Economy, with support from the Office of the Provost, host an interdisciplinary seminar on risk regulation.

"Why the Law is So Perverse"
Leo Katz, Frank Carano Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania
Commentators: Bruce Chapman, University of Toronto, and Lewis Kornhauser, Alfred B. Engelberg Professor of Law, New York University
April 20, 2010

"Science and Policy after Climate-gate ”
Gary Yohe, Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics, Wesleyan University
March 23, 2010

Well-being and Equity: A Framework for Policy Analysis
Matthew Adler, Leon Meltzer Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania
February 23, 2010

Obama's Regulatory Agenda: A One-Year Retrospective
Panel appraising the first year of regulation under President Obama.
Susan E. Dudley, Director, The Regulatory Studies Center, George Washington University (former Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs)
Sally Katzen, Executive Managing Director, the Podesta Group (former OIRA Administrator)
Jeff Ruch, Executive Director, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
Rena Steinzor, President, Center for Progressive Reform and Professor of Law, University of Maryland
Jim Tozzi, Co-Founder, Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (former Assistant Director, Office of Management & Budget)
January 26, 2010

Does the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Have a Future?
Roberta Romano, Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law at Yale Law School; Director, Yale Law School's Center for the Study of Corporate Law
November 17, 2009

Regulating in the 21st Century: A New Federal Environmental and Consumer Protection Agency and Other Proposals for Reform
J. Clarence "Terry" Davies, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future.
Commentary by E. Donald Elliott, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Marissa Golden, Bryn Mawr College
October 20, 2009

Comparative Effectiveness Research as Social Science: Implications for Technology Assessment in US Health Care Reform.
David Meltzer, Department of Medicine, Department of Economics and Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
September 22, 2009

Risks and Opportunities of Manned and Unmanned Space Flight
Molly Macauley, Senior Fellow and Director of Academic Programs, Resources for the Future, Washington DC
April 21, 2009

Rethinking Regulation in the Wake of the Financial Crisis
David Moss, John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
March 24, 2009

Climate Change, Nature, and Action
Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, Washington DC
February 24, 2009

New Directions for Risk Assessment in the Incoming Administration and Beyond
Thomas Burke, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Training, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
January 27, 2009

2007

"Risk Management Principles for Nanotechnology"
Gary Marchant
Professor of Law, Executive Director, and Faculty Fellow Center for the Study of Law, Science, & Technology
Lincoln Professor of Emerging Technologies, Law & Ethics
Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University

"Risk Regulation in 3-D: How to See (and Balance) Benefits and Costs as They Truly Are"
Adam Finkel
Fellow and Executive Director, Penn Program on Regulation;
Lecturer of Public and International Affairs Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University;
Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, UMDNJ School of Public Health

Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes"
Howard C. Kunreuther and Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Data on losses from natural disasters and other extreme events suggest we are now in a new era of catastrophes. Hurricane Katrina alone caused $65 billion in insured losses (including for floods), the most costly disaster the insurance industry has ever had; All 20 of the most costly events to the insurance industry since 1970 occurred after 1987 with half of them occurring since 2001. This talk describes a major research project currently being undertaken by the Wharton Risk Center in conjunction with Georgia State University and the Insurance Information Institute on the role of the private and public sectors in mitigating and financing recovery from natural disasters in the United States.

We will address the following question: What is the best way for the nation to prepare and recover from large-scale disasters? Alternative disaster insurance and mitigation programs will be evaluated with a focus on how the current programs, where insurance is highly regulated, compare with a private market solution where insurers are free to set risk-based rates. The talk will propose a set of new programs for mitigating and insuring risks that include long-term insurance and mitigation loans, comprehensive insurance and vouchers for low-income residents in hazard-prone areas who may not be able to afford risk-based insurance premiums.

Wharton-GSU-III Disaster Project - Extreme Events Conference
Friday October 12, 2007, Washington DC

Invitational Choice Symposium
June 13-17, 2007

The 2007 Wharton Economic Summit:
Next Moves in a Global Economy

April 12-13, 2007: Philadelphia

Gain valuable business knowledge from world leaders in business, academia, and government as they discuss the key economic issues and challenges to watch in 2007. Wharton faculty will host leading industry experts at this two-day Wharton anniversary event.

Included among over 30 conference topics:

Information online at http://125th.wharton.upenn.edu/summit.

Seminar Series: Catastrophic Risk Regulation (co-sponsored with Penn Law)

Tuesday, January 30th 2007
4:30-6:00 pm in Gittis Hall, Room 213
Lewis Branscomb
Public Service Professor of Public Policy and
Corporate Management in the Aetna Chair Emeritus, Harvard University
"Is Private Efficiency a Threat to Public Security and to Economic Resilience? The Challenge to Governance in a Market Economy"

View Video

Tuesday, February 27th 2007
4:30-6:00 pm in Gittis Hall, Room 213
Robert E. Litan
VP for Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation
Senior Fellow, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution
"Preparing for Mega-Catastrophes:
Mitigation, Insurance, Response and Recovery"

Tuesday, March 27th 2007
4:30-6:00 pm in Gittis Hall, Room 213
Richard Zeckhauser
Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University
"Obstacles to Clear Thinking about Natural Disasters:
Five Lessons for Policy"

All seminars meet from 4:30-600 pm in Gittis Hall (3443 Sansom Street), Room 213, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

RSVP to Anna Gavin, Faculty Events Coordinator, University of Pennsylvania Law School

May 5th, 2005 - "Recent Advances in Operations and Risk Management"
A conference in honor of Paul Kleindorfer sponsored by the Wharton Operations and Information Management Department, the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management, and the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center.

February 25, 2005 - "Assessing and Managing Extreme Events"
The Wharton Risk Center "Managing and Financing Extreme Events" project will hold its Winter 2005 meeting on February 25, 2005. More than 50 people from 25 organizations (Industry, Government and Academic) will participate in this Roundtable at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. This year the meeting will focus on "The future of terrorism risk insurance in the US"

Executive Summary of the TRIA and Beyond Conference