Includes bibliographical references (pages 61-69).
Contents:
References. Tables -- Summary -- Acknowledgments - Abbreviations -- Chapter 7. Introduction: Scope -- Discussion -- Organization of This Report -- Chapter 2. Victim Compensation Programs and the Tort System -- Chapter 3. Governmental Victim Compensation Programs: The 9/11 VCF of 2001 -- The 9/11 VCF of 2011 -- I-35W Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis -- Indiana State Fair Stage Collapse -- Chapter 4. Private Victim Compensation Programs: Causes of Injury -- Budgets -- Eligibility for Compensation -- Sizes of Compensation Payments -- Timing of Payments -- Uncertain Budgets and Future Claims -- Rights to Pursue Litigation -- Multiple Compensation Funds -- Use of Charitable Donations -- Chapter 5. Design Decisions: Rules -- Processes -- Governance -- Chapter 6. Major Goals of VCP Designers: Major Goal 1: Being Fair -- Major Goal 2: Ensuring Timely Compensation -- Major Goal 3: Limiting Transaction Costs -- Conflicts Among Being Fair, Ensuring Timely Compensation, and Limiting Transaction Costs -- Effects of VCP Design on Future Losses -- Chapter 7. Suggestions for VCP Designers: Recap -- Victims Have Conflicting and Shared Interests -- How Can Designers Best Help Victims? -- What́s a VCP Designer to Do? -- Concluding Remarks -- References.
Summary:
"Man-made and natural disasters (such as mass shootings, terrorist attacks, flooding, and hurricanes) occur fairly frequently in the United States. Much less frequently, after a disaster occurs, ad hoc victim compensation programs (VCPs) are instituted using public or private funds. The designs of such VCPs--specifying who is eligible for compensation, how much compensation each person receives, procedures for claiming funds and auditing the program, and so on--have differed across programs and often engender considerable controversy. Those responsible for designing these programs must balance competing outcomes and fulfill obligations to various stakeholders, such as victims, taxpayers, and donors. The objective of this report is to help VCP designers make decisions that balance fairness to victims, speed of compensation, and size of transaction costs. It does so by considering design choices in four public VCPs created since 2001 and seven private VCPs created since 2007, highlighting major issues that designers are likely to confront, considering multiple outcomes of design decisions (for example, fairness), and recognizing conflicts or trade-offs in balancing such outcomes. The report offers practical suggestions for how VCP designers can achieve their goals fairly, quickly, and efficiently"--Publisher's description.
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