INSURANCE WORLD: A Laboratory for Studying the Dynamics of the Global Insurance Industry

INSURANCE WORLD: A Laboratory for Studying the Dynamics of the Global Insurance Industry

John Casti
Technical University of Vienna
Santa Fe Institute


The world's catastrophe insurance industry is a complicated interaction between natural events like hurricanes and earthquakes, individuals and firms who purchase property insurance, primary insurance companies who sell policies, and reinsurers who absorb excess risk from the primary insurers. The Insurance World simulator is a tool for studying the interplay among these various factors, enabling investigators to trace out the implications for the customers and firms of various scenarios for the occurrence of natural hazards. This talk will explain the development of Insurance World, as well as the assumptions and relations underlying the interactions between the various agents making up the world of insurance. Time permitting, demonstrations of some sample scenarios will be given.