Demand Surge Following Catastrophes

[Basso]

(Cross Posted to CAS Discussion forum)

I have looked through the CAS online research publications, but I have not found anything related to the impact of Demand Surge following a major catastrophe. What I mean when I say Demand Surge is the temporary inflation in the cost of building materials and labor resulting from the surge in demand for rebuilding services. Can anyone out there point me to a source that discusses this issue from either a pricing or a reserving perspective? Thanks

[Mulan]

I don't know of any good sources, but if you get expert in the concept, you should write the first paper on the subject!

[Cho Da]

Take a guess. there is only one data point and it is over ten years old: Hurricane Andrew. The catastrophe modelers may be able to sell you something, but regulators are loathe to allow you to factor anticipated "price gouging" into your rates.

[DW Simpson]

There are several promising ones among the Power Point and Adobe Acrobat files at http://www.google.com/search?q=casac...UTF-8&filter=0