Search for: All records

Decision-makers increasingly invoke equity to motivate, design, implement and evaluate strategies for managing flood risks. Unfortunately, there is little guidance on how analysts can develop measurements that support these tasks. Here we analyse how equity can be defined and measured by surveying 167 peer-reviewed publications that explicitly state an interest in equity in the context of flood-risk management. Our main result is a taxonomy that systematizes how equity has been, and can be, defined and measured in flood-risk research. The taxonomy embodies how equity is a pluralistic and unavoidably ethical concept. Despite this, we find that most quantitative studies fail to motivate or defend critical value judgements on which their findings depend. We also find that studies often include only a single equity measurement. This practice can overlook important trade-offs between competing perspectives on equity. For example, the few studies that employ distinct principles show that conclusions about equity depend on which principle underlies a specific measurement and how that principle is operationalized. We draw on our analysis to suggest practices for developing more useful equity indicators and performing more comprehensive quantitative equity assessments in the broader context of environmental risks. 

Abstract Climate change impacts threaten the stability of the US housing market. In response to growing concerns that increasing costs of flooding are not fully captured in property values, we quantify the magnitude of unpriced flood risk in the housing market by comparing the empirical and economically efficient prices for properties at risk. We find that residential properties exposed to flood risk are overvalued by US$121–US$237 billion, depending on the discount rate. In general, highly overvalued properties are concentrated in counties along the coast with no flood risk disclosure laws and where there is less concern about climate change. Low-income households are at greater risk of losing home equity from price deflation, and municipalities that are heavily reliant on property taxes for revenue are vulnerable to budgetary shortfalls. The consequences of these financial risks will depend on policy choices that influence who bears the costs of climate change. 

Natural disaster risk is escalating around the globe and in the United States. A large body of research has found that lower-income households disproportionally suffer from disasters and are less likely to recover. Poorer households often lack the financial resources for rebuilding, endangering other aspects of wellbeing. Parametric microinsurance has been used in many developing countries to improve the financial resilience of low-income households. This paper presents a review of the evidence for implementing parametric microinsurance in the U.S., with spillover lessons for other highly developed countries. We discuss the benefits and the challenges of microinsurance in a US context and explore 4 possible distribution models that could help overcome difficulties, with policies being provided: (1) by an aggregator, (2) through a mobile-based technology, (3) by linking to other products or retailers, or (4) through a public sector insurer.