Amenities, Risk, and Flood Insurance Reform

V. Smith and Ben Whitmore

No 25580, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper provides the first, comprehensive evidence on the question of whether the subsidized flood insurance rates are needed to meet the affordability goal of the National Flood Insurance Program. We use IRS records at the zip code level from 2009 to 2016 to compare the real median incomes of homeowners in areas subject to flooding risks to those homeowners in neighboring zip codes. Our analysis includes all of the Gulf Coast states and over 1000 other communities around the United States containing FEMA designated Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA). There are clear patterns of positive income stratification for coastal locations in Florida, New Jersey, and New York. We also find lower income for coastal locations in California, North Carolina, as well as the shoreline along rivers identified as in SFHA in Delaware, and Virginia fit this pattern.

JEL-codes: D31 H2 H84 Q51 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-ias and nep-ure
Note: EEE PE
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