2019 prize jointly awarded for two doctoral theses: one on insurability of catastrophic risks and one on insurance and financial stability
The 2019 Geneva Association Ernst Meyer Prize has been granted to Christian Kubitza of Goethe University (Frankfurt) for his thesis, Essays on Financial Stability and Markets, and to Alexis Louass of Ecole Polytechnique (Paris) for his thesis, Insurability of Catastrophic Risks. Since 1976 the Geneva Association Ernst Meyer Prize has recognized doctoral theses that make a significant contribution to the study of risk and insurance economics.
Jad Ariss, Managing Director of The Geneva Association, said: “The Geneva Association’s commitment to academic research is as strong as ever. In our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world, academic advances on risk and insurance are essential. We are proud to grant the Geneva Association Ernst Meyer Prize this year to two outstanding students for their remarkable work on the insurability of catastrophic risks and on financial stability. I would like to warmly congratulate Christian and Alexis. Their work illustrates how insurance can contribute to a better world.”
Professor Christophe Courbage, Editor-in-Chief of The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance and a member of the judging committee, said: “In Essays on Financial Stability and Markets, Christian has applied state-of-the-art theoretical and empirical techniques to strengthen our understanding of systemic risk and its relation to insurance companies and the regulation of financial markets. Alexis took Insurability of Catastrophic Risks beyond just exploring limits to insurability by presenting innovative mechanisms for pooling and transferring risk. These designs can benefit those with the least access to insurance and most exposed to risks like climate change.”
In addition to Professor Courbage (Geneva School of Business Administration, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland), the judging committee is made up of Professor Andreas Richter (LMU Mnchen) and Professor Richard Watt (University of Canterbury, Christchurch).
The submission deadline for the 2020 prize is 15 January 2020, and for the first time, the award will be presented at The Geneva Association’s Annual General Assembly, to be held in May 2020 in New York City.
