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Lecture Series FS21 of UZH Blockchain Center——"Decentralized Autonomous Risk Transfer on the Blockchain".
Prof. Dr. Alexander Braun & Niklas Häusle (I.VW-HSG)
When: 23.03.2021 18:00
Where: Online via Zoom

Abstract:
The rise of blockchain technology enables a fully automated decentralized autonomous risk transfer. We first explain the functionality and operating principles of this new method of risk transfer. We also provide an overview of the corresponding institutional arrangement and its challenges. At least two major challenges can be identified: ensuring the quality of the product and attaining a critical network size. A feasible solution for these problems is the usage of system-specific tokens, which are used as a form of digital collateralization. We explain how these theoretical concepts can be translated into practice and demonstrate the economic potential of the idea. While flight delay risk is already handled through decentralized autonomous risk transfer, the biggest benefits can be realized by decentralizing crop and hurricane insurance, including a seamless transfer of the risk to capital markets.

Bio:
Alexander Braun is Vice Director at the Institute of Insurance Economics (I.VW-HSG) and Senior Fellow at the Wharton Risk Center (Penn). He is also a risk management professor at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland. He obtained a Ph.D. in Finance at HSG and held visiting scholar positions at the Wharton School (Penn) and Fox School of Business (Temple University) in the US. The focus areas of Mr. Braun comprise NaturalCatastrophe Risk, Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS), Digital Insurance and Sustainable Insurance. Overall, he looks back on more than 12 years of combined scholarly and practical experience in risk management, insurance, and the financial markets.

Niklas Häusle is a PhD student at the University St. Gallen and project manager at the Institute of Insurance Economics (IVW-HSG). His research interests lie at the intersection of digitalization, insurance economics and organization economics. He received a MSc in Business Economics from the University of Ulm, Germany.

Recommended reading materials:
-Braun, Alexander and Häusle, Niklas and Karpischek, Stephan (2021) Incentivization in Decentralized Autonomous Organizations. Available at SSRN:https://ssrn.com/abstract=3760531
-Buterin, Vitalik (2013) A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform. In: Ethereum White Paper ethereum.org. Available online at: https://cryptorating.eu/whitepapers/Ethereum/Ethereum_white_paper.pdf
-Karpischek, Stephan and Mussenbrock, Christoph (2018) Etherisc White Paper. Available online at: https://etherisc.com/files/etherisc_whitepaper_1.01_en.pdf

Agenda:
18:00 - 18:05 Intro by the representative
18:05 - 19:00 Lecture
19:00 - 19:30 Q&A
19:30 - 20:00 Apéro

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