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Title

A Flood of Construction: The Role of Levees in Urban Floodplain Development

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-28-2022

Publication Title

Land Economics

Volume Number

98

Issue Number

1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3368/le.98.1.071520-0106R1

Abstract

We estimate the impact of levee-related flood risk reduction on rates of new housing development. Using a fixed effect Poisson regression and a nonlinear difference-in-differences identification strategy, we find that newly constructed levees increased the rate of residential development by over 50 percent compared to areas without levee protection. Contemporary analysis using a duration model indicates effects lasting decades later, with the magnitude of the induced development attenuating over time. Our findings inform discussion of the “Levee Effect” and highlight the possibility that further flood-risk reduction investment in levees may be partially offset through increased development activity.

First Page

78

Last Page

97

Link Out URL

https://doi.org/10.3368/le.98.1.071520-0106R1

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