Abstract:
This thesis gives o short introduction to the scientific fundamentals of nanotechnology and the economic potential of their applications. In contrast to this promising development, the risks of nanotechnological processes and products are analyzed.
The lack of experience in nanotechnology on the level of scientific and actuarial methods and methods pursuant to insurance law, meets the risk of a technology which is already spreading globally. The future development of insurance products, especially the calculation of insurance rates cannot be based on former figures, but has to rely only on future expectations instead.
Chapters 2, 3 and 4 describe the challenges of specific nanotechnological risks in view of industrial liability insurance products, in particular with regard to product liability and environmental liability insurance. Chapter 5 gives an introduction to the fundamentals of risk management considering the situation of severe competition in the market of industrial liability insurance. It includes some suggestions on how to handle nanotechnological risks in this context.