Financial, economic, and political risks pose a significant threat to the development progress of countries as such can impact all spheres life including education, healthcare, logistics, transportation, safety among others. Although these seem quite distinct, they are mutually influenced by multidimensional interdependent factors internal external conflict, socioeconomic conditions, corruption...

With China’s imminent entry into the World Trade Organization, the deregulation of the Japanese insurance market, and the liberalization of Indian insurance regulations, Asia is poised to become a major insurance magnet over the next decade. Foreign companies able to capitalize on the recent increased openness of the Asian markets stand to reap substantial profits. However, companies entering t...

Abtract: The urbanization of urban watersheds can influence flooding risks. Traditional Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood risk maps identify 100 year floodplains. These maps are updated infrequently. However, as a community urbanizes, flood risks can change, especially for downstream residents. Thus, one would expect that the willingness to pay (WTP) to prevent the worsening of f...

HE BIGGEST increases in demand for oil and gas are occurring in the developing world, which is also where most of the world’s proven oil and gas reserves are located. International energy companies—investors, equipment suppliers, contractors, and consulting firms—are therefore shifting their attention from Europe and North America to developing countries, which are likely to offer more business...

This paper offers a reframing of the dynamics of crime and punishment in the United States by exploring lethal violence and situating both violence and punishment within the larger capacity of the US political system to shield citizens from a range of social risks. I argue that security from violence is an important state obligation and then illustrate the exceptionally high rates of lethal vio...

This paper reports findings from participatory design research aimed at uncovering how technological interventions can engage users in the domain of privacy. Our work was undertaken in the context of a new design concept “Privacy Trends” whose aspiration is to foster technology users’ digital literacy regarding ongoing privacy risks and elucidate how such risks fit within existing social, organ...

Societal conflicts with regard to risk management are common. The public has different beliefs than many experts and administrators with regard to such issues as the citing of a repository for spent nuclear fuel or whether genetically modified organisms should be allowed to enter the human food chain. As a result, political tensions arise and there may be a skew allocation of resources for risk...

Veterinary public health (VPH) is ideally suited to promote convergence between human, animal and environmental sectors. Recent zoonotic and emerging infectious disease events have given rise to increasing calls for efforts to build global VPH capacities. However, even with their greater vulnerability to such events, including their economic and livelihood impacts, the response from low-and mid...

This article examines the production of metastable technetium-99 (Tc-99m), the world’s most important radiopharmaceutical, focusing on reliability of supply and risks of nuclear terrorism. Only four producers manufactured about 95 percent of the world’s Tc-99m; a closure of any of them could cause worldwide shortfalls. Moreover, all four employ highly enriched uranium in their production proces...

Animal reservoirs for infectious diseases pose ongoing risks to human populations. In this theory of zoonoses, the introduction event that starts an epidemic is assumed to be independent of all preceding events. However, introductions are often concentrated in communities that bridge the ecological interfaces between reservoirs and the general population. In this paper, we explore how the risks...