Past Workshops

The Microeconomics of Aging: Savings, Pensions, Long-Term Care, Health and Disabilities

13 - 14 - 15 September 2023

Public attendance via Zoom or in-person (limited)

This academic workshop takes place at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. It is jointly organized by the Chair of Integrative Risk Management and Economics at ETH Zurich, the ETH Risk Center, and the Rennes School of Business.

Scientific Committee:

 

The workshop fosters interactive discussions through presentations that delve into the latest research, both theoretical and empirical, in the fields of savings, pensions, long-term care, health shocks, disability, and other associated areas.

Registration is now open: https://u.ethz.ch/KNAB8

You can attend the workshop on Zoom or in person. The number of seats is limited.

The event starts with a welcome address by Profs. Antoine Bommier and François Le Grand on Wednesday 13 September at 2.30 p.m. CET. The workshop closes at 12.30 p.m. on Friday 15 September.

Food and drinks are provided during the breaks, as well as lunch on Thursday 14 September.

We look forward to your participation and to exchanging ideas in the microeconomics of aging.
 

Change Management: How to Lead Through Transformation

Together with the MAS ETH MTEC program.

Wednesday, 25 November 2020 // from 03.00 p.m. to 07.00 p.m. CET (ONLINE via ZOOM)

Speakers:
external page Cristian Matei, former Global Head of Learning and Development at General Electric
external page Stefan Kramer, Chief Operating Officer for Risk and Compliance at Credit Suisse
external page Andreas Gutzeit, Radiologist at Hirslanden Klinik St. Anna in Lucerne and lecturer at ETH Zurich

Full programm available here.

Change Management

September 2020

Future Money: Which Road?

Thursday, 3 September 2020 // from 04.00 p.m. to 07.30 p.m. CET

Online Webinar - Public Session

Recorded version available here.

This public session [Webinar] hosted by the ETH Risk Center discussed the current monetary architecture and its prospects. Due to changing preferences and technological innovations, long-established forms of money lose their appeal to the public. Various countries experience a decline in the usage of cash, and digital currencies meet increasing attention. The current monetary architecture is thus exposed to fundamental challenges and may require extensive changes.

Future Money Workshop

Climate Risk and the Built Environment: Can Data make a difference?

28 October 2019
ETH Zürich, Hönggerberg, HIB Level E, Open Space 2

Full programme Download here (PDF, 3 MB)

MBS Workshop

January 2019

Natural Catastrophe Prevention and Insurance: Market and Policy Issues

Thursday, 17 January to Friday 18 January 2019
ETH Zurich, LEE E 101, Leonhardstrasse 21, Zürich

Full programme Download here (PDF, 1.2 MB)

Workshop natural catastrophe

Aims and Scope:
Natural catastrophes regularly bring to the forefront the same questions on the prevention and insurance of natural catastrophe risks. The tremendous and rapidly growing losses lead to speculation as to the increasing excess of risk exposure. It is also a matter of concern that insurance coverage is so low in most cases. The growing economics literature on natural catastrophe risks sheds light on the role of insurance market failures and poorly designed public policies on these issues. The workshop aims at sharing new academic knowledge on these topics from an economics point of view. Research contributions in this area are all the more crucial in that natural catastrophe risks are expected to escalate with climate change.

Guiding Questions:

  • Are actual insurance markets and public policies sufficiently well designed to cover catastrophe risks and to give incentives for prevention actions?
  • What type of innovations could be implemented to improve insurance coverage and risk reduction?
  • Which tools could increase incentives for prevention while taking into account equity?
  • How can we deal with the lack of knowledge of natural catastrophe risks?
  • How could people be better informed on natural catastrophe risks?
  • How could risk diversification be increased for large catastrophe risks?
  • What are the connections between natural catastrophe policies and climate change policies?

Workshop Gallery

July 2018

Managing Risk in Agriculture
A Symposium focused on Innovations in
Agricultural Insurance and Digitization

5 July 2018, 8.30 - 16.30, ETH Zürich

Full Programm Download here (PDF, 452 KB)

In collaboration with the ETH Risk Center and the Agricultural Economic and Policy group of Prof. Robert Finger, the WFSC organized the event “Managing Risk in Agriculture,” a symposium focused on innovations in agricultural insurance and digitization.

Pictures Workshop Agro Risk

Workshopr Agriculture

On the evening of 05 July, more than 150 participants from different scientific disciplines and institutions as well as a large number of representatives from the insurance industry, cantonal and federal administrations, and farmers’ organizations gathered at ETH Zurich to discuss recent scientific developments in the field of agricultural risk management. The event entitled “Managing Risk in Agriculture“ was a symposium on innovations in agricultural insurance and digitization, co-organized by the World Food System Center, the ETH Risk Center, and the ETH Zurich Agricultural Economic and Policy group of Prof. Robert Finger.

Agricultural production is characterized by a variety of risks, e.g. due to volatile weather, markets but also policy conditions. Assessing and managing risks is thus of key importance for an optimal decision-making, also in agricultural production. Increasingly climate variability is further accelerating uncertainty at all stages of value chains. Recent advances in Big Data are promising to provide opportunities and technologies to enhance risk management in agricultural production using high-resolution data from satellites, open data platforms and data from agricultural machines. A risk-based decision-making incorporating these advances will involve a common understanding among up and downstream companies, policy makers as well as finance and insurance professionals.

These topics were discussed in both presentations from industry and science and a lively panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Bastian Bergmann from the ETH Risk Center. Presenters included Dr. Hans Feyen (Swiss Re), Prof. Yann de Mey (Wageningen University & Research), Prof. Joshua Woodard (Cornell University), and Prof. Finger.

Dr. Hans Feyen from SwissRe presented the Re-Insurance perspective on Digitization in agricultural insurance and especially discussed the views and roles of a (re)insurer in that respect. Dr. Feyen showed the need to overcome information asymmetries between farmers and insurance companies and identified needs for better data as well as a better use of the available data. Download Download Dr. Feyen's presentaion here (PDF, 2 MB)

Prof. Yann de Mey from Wageningen University presented insights in risk, risk management, and resilience in European agriculture. He especially presented the research vision of the Horizon 2020 project SURE-Farm (Towards SUstainable and REsilient EU FARMing systems, http://surefarmproject.eu/) that is coordinated by Wageningen University and also comprises research activities at the Agricultural Economic and Policy Group of ETH Zurich. An important conclusion drawn by Prof. De Mey was to put resilience in farming systems in a larger perspective. Resilience thinking should go beyond short-term robustness because also the adaptability and even transformability are important components of farming systems resilience. Download Download Prof. de Mey's presentation here (PDF, 3.2 MB)

Prof. Joshua Woodard from Cornell University presented recent activities related to the development of an open source, open data platform and applications for agricultural and environmental finance and insurance. The platform Ag-Analytics https://ag-analytics.org/ is an integrative tool bringing together various public datasets (e.g. on weather, soil and land use) and satellite information with farmers’ information on input use and yields. This platform creates a unique field-level database that supports farmers’ decision-making and enables novel insurance opportunities.

Prof. Finger presented the idea that farmers chose a risk management portfolio from a variety of available tools and highlighted the potential benefits of insurance solutions as part of such portfolio. New technologies and large publically available datasets (e.g. on crop phenology and weather) create massive opportunities to develop better, cheaper and more widely used insurance solutions. However, Prof. Finger also discussed the potential negative effects of the subsidization of agricultural insurances on the environment that need to be considered by policy makers. Download Download Prof. Finger's presentation here (PDF, 2.3 MB)

The WFSC, the ETH Risk Center, and the Agricultural Economic and Policy Group thank all for making this public event such an interesting discussion. Special thanks to our speakers Hans Feyen, Yann de Mey, Joshua Woodard and Robert Finger.

October 2017

Autonomous Decision-Making: Assessing the Technology and its Impact on Industry and Society

25 October 2017, 8.30 - 16.30

Swiss Re Institute, Rüschlikon

Cover Page WS 25.10.17

Risk Center Workshop Autonomous Decision-Making

Please find invitation and programme Download here. (PDF, 2 MB)
Presentations Download here. (ZIP, 21.6 MB)

Links to ETH Spin-offs:
external page 1plusX - From Data to Predictions
external page DeepCode - From Code to Predictions
external page Drone Harmony - Optimal Mission Planning for Drones
external page Veezoo - Ask the Company Brain

Video glimpse external page here.

More information external page here about the Swiss Re Institute as a corporate partner of the ETH Risk Center.

March 2017

Extreme Value Theory with Applications to Insurance and Finance

24 March 2017, 13.00 - 17.00

ETH Zurich, Rämistrasse 101, HG E 3

Extreme Value Theory - Workshop

On March 24, Prof. Marie Kratz gave a workshop on Extreme Value Theory to about 150 participants ranging from banking, insurance, regulators and academia. The workshop closed with a panel discussion. 

Please find slides here

January 2017

Workshop on Cascade Processes: Mathematical Modeling and Applications

19 and 20 January 2017

As part of the ETH48 Research Project, the ETH Risk Center organizes a workshop that brings together experts on cascade phenomena from various disciplines. We identify commonalities and differences between methodological approaches and discuss possible interpretations in different contexts. In particular, we study economic and financial systems, shed light on epidemic spreading, and look at similarities with information cascade in social online media.

Schedule: 
Thursday, 19.1.2017 - 13:00 to 18:45 hrs.
Friday, 20.1.2017 - 8:30 to 12:00 hrs.

Organizing Lead:
Dr. Rebekka Burkholz, Chair of Systems Design and Risk Center, ETH Zurich

Programme:
Please find more details Download here. (PDF, 144 KB)

Registration:
Please register via e-mail to Rebekka Burkholz (rburkholzatethz.ch) until 16 January 2017. This event is free of charge.

Confirmed Speakers:
- Stefano Battiston, Institute for Banking and Finance, University of Zurich
- Rebekka Burkholz, Chair of Systems Design and Risk Center, ETH Zurich
- Fabio Caccioli, Department of Computer Science, University College London
- Dionysios Georgiadis, ETH Singapore Center, Future Resilient Systems Programme, Singapore
- James P. Gleeson, MACSI, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Limerick, Ireland
- Sergio Gomez, Departamento Enginyeria Informàtica i Matemàtiques, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain
- Manuel Gomez Rodriguez, MPI-SWS, Kaiserslautern, Germany
- Jan Nagler, Computational & Theoretical Physics @ IfB & Risk Center, ETH Zurich
- Raúl Toral, Departamento de Física & Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (IFISC, UIB-CSIC), Spain
- Olivia Woolley Meza, Chair of Computational Social Science, ETH Zurich

About:
Cascade processes are a widely observed phenomenon. In the course of globalization and technological advancement, systems become more interconnected and system components more dependent on the functioning of others. In particular, for socio-economic networks and financial networks, we observe an increase in coupling strength and complexity at the same time. Examples are global supply chains, but also technical systems, like power grids or the internet of things. The increasing connectivity in such systems has usually many advantages. For instance, resources can be allocated where they are needed and can thus be used more efficiently. In addition, connectivity can provide redundancy and absorb local shocks. Very often, higher connectivity is crucial for the functionality of a system. For instance, it can be necessary to cope with increased requirements in system’s performance. Power grids might need to serve an increased electricity demand and thus have to be expanded. More food for an increasing world population needs to be provided and thus transported to its destination. However, at the same time, highly connected systems are prone to cascading phenomena and can thus carry an eventually high amount of systemic risk. Incidents like the US Northeast power grid blackout of 2003 or the financial crisis in 2007/2008 have raised awareness for the downsides of increasing interdependency and complexity. Insights into such cascade phenomena support the improvement of many systems' resilience.

November 2016

Mastering the Challenges of our Digital Society

Friday, 4 November 2016, 9.00 to 16.30

Zurich Development Center, Zürich  

Workshop Digital Risks

Risk Center Workshop Digital Risks

Prof. Frank Schweitzer

Full programme and registration details Download here. (PDF, 950 KB) 
Presentations Download here. (ZIP, 99 MB)

September 2016

Understanding the Risks of Extreme Events: Challanges in Risk Management of Natural Catastrophes

Friday, September 2, 2016, at ETH Zurich, Main Building, D1.1

Organizing Committee
Prof. Bozidar Stojadinovic, Bastian Bergmann, Panagiotis Galanis

Download Programme

Download Slides (ZIP, 40.1 MB)

The workshop brought together experts from different industries, scientists, (re)insurers, governmental authorities in order to present and discuss the main challenges in modeling extreme natural events. The workshop was split into two parts:

First part: In this part natural disasters will be presented mainly from the perspective of civil protection and public safety. Leading experts from both academia and public authorities will discuss their experiences on natural disaster risk evaluation and reduction.

Second part: In this part the discussion will focus on the financial impact of natural disasters. Professionals from different insurance market participants will share their views on challenges related to quantifying the risk of natural catastrophes and how catastrophe models could assist in taking risk informed decisions to be better prepared for future events.

Risk Center Workshop Extreme Events

Opening - Prof. Bozidar Stojadinovic

June 2016

Conference Gallery

Detlef Günther

Alternative Financial and Monetary Architectures

Monday, June 13 (afternoon) and Tuesday 14 June (morning), 2016, at ETH Zurich, AudiMax, HG F30

Organizing Committee:
Hans Gersbach, Bastian Bergmann

Download Invitation and Full Programme (PDF, 477 KB)

Download Presentations/Slides (ZIP, 12.2 MB)

The conference will provide a platform to share insights, experiences and assessments from key players on two main issues:

·        Can the current financial and monetary system be improved, and if yes, how should it be reshaped?

·        Is it preferable to develop alternative monetary and financial systems, and if yes, how should they be structured?

Additional Information:

This course will grant 6 credit points under the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme for members of the SAA’s Actuaries section.

September 2015

"Policyholder Behavior in Insurance Decision Making"

September 28/29, 2015, at ETH Zurich


Download Programme here (PDF, 272 KB)

Organizing Committee:
Prof. Wanda Mimra
Prof. Antoine Bommier
Benjamin Huber (AXA Winterthur)

Supported by: AXA Research Fund Switzerland

Slides

please find them Download here (ZIP, 4.1 MB)

Impressions

Workshop: Policyholder Behavior in Insurance Decision Making

Opening by Prof. Wanda Mimra

Earlier Workshops

"Financial, Technological, Social and Political Bubbles"

March 26, 2015, at Prime Tower Clouds, Zurich
Organizing Committee
:
Prof. Didier Sornette (Chair)
Dr. Monika Gisler
Lukas Gubler (Axpo Trading)

Download Program here (PDF, 443 KB)
Download Slides here (ZIP, 6.3 MB)
Supported by: Swisselectric/Axpo Trading

 

"Funding Longer Lives and Elderly Protection"

October 20-21, 2014, at Swiss Re Global Dialogue Centre, Rüschlikon
Organizing Committee
:
Prof. Antoine Bommier (Chair)
Prof. Paul Embrechts
Stephan Schreckenberg (Swiss Re)

Download Program here (PDF, 50 KB)
Supported by: Swiss Re

 

"Vulnerability and Resilience of Supply Chains"

September 12-13, 2013, at Zurich Insurance Company, Zurich
Organizing Committee:

Prof. Dirk Helbing (Chair)
Prof. Wolfgang Kröger
Benno Keller (Zurich Insurance Company)

Download Program here (PDF, 99 KB)
Supported by: Zurich Insurance Group

 

"New Views on Extreme Events: Coupled Networks, Dragon Kings and Explosive Percolation"

October 25-26, 2012, at Swiss Re, Adliswil
Organizing Committee:

Prof. Hans Jürgen Herrmann (Chair)
Prof. Dirk Helbing
Prof. Didier Sornette

Download Program here (PDF, 128 KB)
Supported by: Swiss Re