[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/riskan/v38y2018i4p680-693.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Insurance, Public Assistance, and Household Flood Risk Reduction: A Comparative Study of Austria, England, and Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Susanne Hanger
  • Joanne Linnerooth‐Bayer
  • Swenja Surminski
  • Cristina Nenciu‐Posner
  • Anna Lorant
  • Radu Ionescu
  • Anthony Patt
Abstract
In light of increasing losses from floods, many researchers and policymakers are looking for ways to encourage flood risk reduction among communities, business, and households. In this study, we investigate risk‐reduction behavior at the household level in three European Union Member States with fundamentally different insurance and compensation schemes. We try to understand if and how insurance and public assistance influence private risk‐reduction behavior. Data were collected using a telephone survey (n = 1,849) of household decisionmakers in flood‐prone areas. We show that insurance overall is positively associated with private risk‐reduction behavior. Warranties, premium discounts, and information provision with respect to risk reduction may be an explanation for this positive relationship in the case of structural measures. Public incentives for risk‐reduction measures by means of financial and in‐kind support, and particularly through the provision of information, are also associated with enhancing risk reduction. In this study, public compensation is not negatively associated with private risk‐reduction behavior. This does not disprove such a relationship, but the negative effect may be mitigated by factors related to respondents' capacity to implement measures or social norms that were not included in the analysis. The data suggest that large‐scale flood protection infrastructure creates a sense of security that is associated with a lower level of preparedness. Across the board there is ample room to improve both public and private policies to provide effective incentives for household‐level risk reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne Hanger & Joanne Linnerooth‐Bayer & Swenja Surminski & Cristina Nenciu‐Posner & Anna Lorant & Radu Ionescu & Anthony Patt, 2018. "Insurance, Public Assistance, and Household Flood Risk Reduction: A Comparative Study of Austria, England, and Romania," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(4), pages 680-693, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:38:y:2018:i:4:p:680-693
    DOI: 10.1111/risa.12881
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12881
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/risa.12881?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Raschky & Reimund Schwarze & Manijeh Schwindt & Ferdinand Zahn, 2013. "Uncertainty of Governmental Relief and the Crowding out of Flood Insurance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 54(2), pages 179-200, February.
    2. Hudson, Paul & Botzen, W.J. Wouter & Feyen, Luc & Aerts, Jeroen C.J.H., 2016. "Incentivising flood risk adaptation through risk based insurance premiums: Trade-offs between affordability and risk reduction," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Paul Raschky & Hannelore Weck-Hannemann, 2007. "Charity hazard - A real hazard to natural disaster insurance," Working Papers 2007-04, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    4. Wim Kellens & Teun Terpstra & Philippe De Maeyer, 2013. "Perception and Communication of Flood Risks: A Systematic Review of Empirical Research," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(1), pages 24-49, January.
    5. Browne, Mark J & Hoyt, Robert E, 2000. "The Demand for Flood Insurance: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 291-306, May.
    6. W. J. W. Botzen & J. C. J. M. Van Den Bergh, 2008. "Insurance Against Climate Change and Flooding in the Netherlands: Present, Future, and Comparison with Other Countries," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 413-426, April.
    7. Surminski, Swenja & Eldridge, Jillian, 2015. "Flood insurance in England: an assessment of the current and newly proposed insurance scheme in the context of rising flood risk," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66256, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Osberghaus, Daniel, 2015. "The determinants of private flood mitigation measures in Germany — Evidence from a nationwide survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 36-50.
    9. Kunreuther, Howard, 1996. "Mitigating Disaster Losses through Insurance," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 12(2-3), pages 171-187, May.
    10. Botzen, W.J.W. & van den Bergh, J.C.J.M., 2012. "Risk attitudes to low-probability climate change risks: WTP for flood insurance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 151-166.
    11. Iuliana Armaş & Eugen Avram, 2009. "Perception of flood risk in Danube Delta, Romania," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 50(2), pages 269-287, August.
    12. Adriana Keating & Karen Campbell & Reinhard Mechler & Piotr Magnuszewski & Junko Mochizuki & Wei Liu & Michael Szoenyi & Colin McQuistan, 2017. "Disaster resilience: what it is and how it can engender a meaningful change in development policy," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(1), pages 65-91, January.
    13. David Crichton, 2008. "Role of Insurance in Reducing Flood Risk," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 33(1), pages 117-132, January.
    14. Hung-Chih Hung, 2009. "The attitude towards flood insurance purchase when respondents' preferences are uncertain: a fuzzy approach," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 239-258, March.
    15. Stine Aakre & Ilona Banaszak & Reinhard Mechler & Dirk Rübbelke & Anita Wreford & Harvir Kalirai, 2010. "Financial adaptation to disaster risk in the European Union," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 15(7), pages 721-736, October.
    16. Torsten Grothmann & Fritz Reusswig, 2006. "People at Risk of Flooding: Why Some Residents Take Precautionary Action While Others Do Not," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 38(1), pages 101-120, May.
    17. Annegret H. Thieken & Theresia Petrow & Heidi Kreibich & Bruno Merz, 2006. "Insurability and Mitigation of Flood Losses in Private Households in Germany," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 383-395, April.
    18. Iuliana Armas & Radu Ionescu & Cristina Posner, 2015. "Flood risk perception along the Lower Danube river, Romania," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 79(3), pages 1913-1931, December.
    19. Surminski, Swenja, 2014. "The Role of Insurance in Reducing Direct Risk - The Case of Flood Insurance," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 7(3-4), pages 241-278, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rauter, Magdalena & Kaufmann, Maria & Thaler, Thomas & Fuchs, Sven, 2020. "Flood risk management in Austria: Analysing the shift in responsibility-sharing between public and private actors from a public stakeholder's perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Keshun Zhang & Elizabeth J. Parks-Stamm & Yaqi Ji & Haiyan Wang, 2021. "Beyond Flood Preparedness: Effects of Experience, Trust, and Perceived Risk on Preparation Intentions and Financial Risk-Taking in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Mikša, Katažyna & Kalinauskas, Marius & Inácio, Miguel & Pereira, Paulo, 2021. "Implementation of the European Union Floods Directive—Requirements and national transposition and practical application: Lithuanian case-study," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    4. Tesselaar, Max & Botzen, W.J. Wouter & Robinson, Peter J. & Aerts, Jeroen C.J.H. & Zhou, Fujin, 2022. "Charity hazard and the flood insurance protection gap: An EU scale assessment under climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mol, Jantsje M. & Botzen, W.J. Wouter & Blasch, Julia E., 2020. "Behavioral motivations for self-insurance under different disaster risk insurance schemes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 967-991.
    2. Peter John Robinson & W. J. Wouter Botzen & Fujin Zhou, 2021. "An experimental study of charity hazard: The effect of risky and ambiguous government compensation on flood insurance demand," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 275-318, December.
    3. Andor, Mark A. & Osberghaus, Daniel & Simora, Michael, 2020. "Natural Disasters and Governmental Aid: Is there a Charity Hazard?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Osberghaus, Daniel & Reif, Christiane, 2021. "How do different compensation schemes and loss experience affect insurance decisions? Experimental evidence from two independent and heterogeneous samples," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    5. Swenja Surminski & Paul Hudson, 2017. "Investigating the Risk Reduction Potential of Disaster Insurance Across Europe," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 42(2), pages 247-274, April.
    6. Timo Goeschl & Shunsuke Managi, 2019. "Public in-Kind Relief and Private Self-Insurance," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 3-21, April.
    7. Ewa Lechowska, 2022. "Approaches in research on flood risk perception and their importance in flood risk management: a review," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 111(3), pages 2343-2378, April.
    8. Ewa Lechowska, 2018. "What determines flood risk perception? A review of factors of flood risk perception and relations between its basic elements," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 94(3), pages 1341-1366, December.
    9. Tianzhuo Liu & Huifang Jiao, 2018. "Insights into the Effects of Cognitive Factors and Risk Attitudes on Fire Risk Mitigation Behavior," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 1213-1232, December.
    10. Tesselaar, Max & Botzen, W.J. Wouter & Robinson, Peter J. & Aerts, Jeroen C.J.H. & Zhou, Fujin, 2022. "Charity hazard and the flood insurance protection gap: An EU scale assessment under climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    11. S. Surminski & J. Aerts & W. Botzen & P. Hudson & J. Mysiak & C. Pérez-Blanco, 2015. "Reflections on the current debate on how to link flood insurance and disaster risk reduction in the European Union," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 79(3), pages 1451-1479, December.
    12. Osberghaus, Daniel, 2015. "The determinants of private flood mitigation measures in Germany — Evidence from a nationwide survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 36-50.
    13. Asadul Islam & C. Matthew Leister & Minhaj Mahmud & Paul A. Raschky, 2020. "Natural disaster and risk-sharing behavior: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 67-99, August.
    14. Unterberger, Christian & Hudson, Paul & Botzen, W.J. Wouter & Schroeer, Katharina & Steininger, Karl W., 2019. "Future Public Sector Flood Risk and Risk Sharing Arrangements: An Assessment for Austria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 153-163.
    15. Craig E. Landry & Dylan Turner & Daniel Petrolia, 2021. "Flood Insurance Market Penetration and Expectations of Disaster Assistance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 79(2), pages 357-386, June.
    16. Hanger, Susanne & Bayer, Joanne & Surminski, Swenja & Nenciu, Cristina & Lorant, Anna & Ionescu, Radu & Patt, Anthony, 2017. "Insurance, public assistance and household flood risk reduction: a comparative study of Austria, England and Romania," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 83634, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Daniel R. Petrolia & Craig E. Landry & Keith H. Coble, 2013. "Risk Preferences, Risk Perceptions, and Flood Insurance," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(2), pages 227-245.
    18. Hudson, Paul & Botzen, W.J. Wouter & Feyen, Luc & Aerts, Jeroen C.J.H., 2016. "Incentivising flood risk adaptation through risk based insurance premiums: Trade-offs between affordability and risk reduction," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-13.
    19. Chloe H. Lucas & Kate I. Booth & Carolina Garcia, 2021. "Insuring homes against extreme weather events: a systematic review of the research," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 1-21, April.
    20. Yilin Zou & Alexia Stock & Rachel Davidson & Linda Nozick & Joseph Trainor & Jamie Kruse, 2020. "Perceived attributes of hurricane-related retrofits and their effect on household adoption," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(1), pages 201-224, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:38:y:2018:i:4:p:680-693. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1539-6924 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.