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Public flood risk mitigation and the homeowner's insurance demand response

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Borsky

    (University of Graz, Austria)

  • Hannah B. Hennighausen

    (University of Graz, Austria)

Abstract
This paper investigates the influence of public risk mitigating activities on individuals' decisions to privately mitigate their disaster risks. We exploit heterogeneity in measures under the Community Rating System in the U.S. to empirically demonstrate that government investment in flood risk communication activities crowd-in private flood insurance demand while activities that lower the flood hazard residents face crowd-out private flood insurance demand. We also give evidence that flood insurance abides by the law of demand: as communities receive price discounts on their insurance policies, demand increases. Our results imply that governments can amplify the price effect by investing in additional risk communication activities, or dilute it by investing in hazard mitigation. This paper contributes to the discussion of the efficacy of disaster risk mitigation strategies and who ultimately bears the costs of natural disasters.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Borsky & Hannah B. Hennighausen, 2020. "Public flood risk mitigation and the homeowner's insurance demand response," Graz Economics Papers 2020-09, University of Graz, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:grz:wpaper:2020-09
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Liao, Yanjun (Penny) & Sølvsten, Simon & Whitlock, Zachary, 2024. "Community Responses to Flooding in Risk Mitigation Actions: Evidence from the Community Rating System," RFF Working Paper Series 24-08, Resources for the Future.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Community Rating System (CRS); flood insurance; behavioral response; risk perception; risk mitigation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • G52 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Insurance
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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