Building economic resilience to pandemic risk in Switzerland
Journal
Risk Management and Insurance Review
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2025-03-23
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper examines the scope for pandemic insurance in Switzerland, addressing the residual revenue losses faced by firms despite comprehensive fiscal and monetary policies during COVID-19. While these policies provided critical support, they failed to fully mitigate revenue declines from government-imposed business interruptions. We highlight how pandemic insurance could reduce firms' exposure to revenue shocks and lessen reliance on costly interventions. Drawing insights from the Swiss Elemental Pool, a successful framework of risk-pooling for natural catastrophes, we explore its applicability to pandemic risks. Given the systemic nature of pandemics, we argue that intertemporal risk-sharing, capital accumulation, and risk transfer to financial markets can support a viable public–private partnership (PPP) for pandemic insurance. While conceptually promising, such a PPP requires further empirical evaluation of costs, benefits, and policy interactions. A well-designed framework could enhance resilience to future pandemics and reduce the economic burden of ex-post interventions.
Refereed
yes
Volume
28
Number
1
Start page
107
End page
149
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Risk Manage Insurance Review - 2025 - Kartasheva - Building economic resilience to pandemic risk in Switzerland.pdf
Size
4.53 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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