Experts, regulatory capture, and the “governor's dilemma”: The politics of hurricane risk science and insurance

Abstract

Using historical context and brief case studies of hurricane risk science, this article illustrates the intimate relationship between the insurance industry and scientific researchers largely assumed to be external to the industry. This paper argues that the extent to which the insurance industry directs, funds, and validates the production and use of science for estimating risk is itself a full blown political enterprise that functions to prioritize industry interests in views of hurricane risk and potentially narrow the broader discussion of disaster losses to the single solution of insurance pricing. The situation presents what has recently been termed the "governor's dilemma." Regulators face losing control over industry's influence on understandings of society's hurricane risk; at the same time, greater control over the research effort may stymie advancement in knowledge needed for effective risk management.

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