Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Literature Review

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Socioeconomic Effects of the National Flood Insurance Program

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Political Science ((BRIEFSPOLITICAL))

  • 191 Accesses

Abstract

In 1966, Gilbert White led a task force for the United States Bureau of the Budget (BOB), forerunner of the modern Office of Management and Budget (OMB), that recommended a comprehensive national approach to mitigating private flood losses through an insurance program (Rumsey 2010, 56–63). White had suggested the idea as early as his 1942 dissertation on floodplain management (White 1942, 202–204). The task force’s report recommended many of the features associated with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) today, such as mapping of the floodplain and the management of floodplain development. However, the task force’s report also included a note suggesting national flood insurance may lead to aggravated flood losses by encouraging unsound building in flood-prone areas. The task force’s recommendations were implemented in 1968 and, since then, the NFIP has grown into a large monoline insurer with more than 1 trillion dollars in insured assets (Congressional Budget Office 2009, 1). Since 1977, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has administered the program.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The MLS is a system for cataloging real estate available for sale.

References

  • Anderson PS (2006) Floodplain development and considerations for better national policies. Master’s Thesis, South Dakota State University

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold JL (1988) The evolution of the 1936 Flood Control Act. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Belvoir

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson AB (1970) On the measurement of economic inequality. J Econ Theory 3(2):244–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bin O, Polasky S (2004) Effects of flood hazards on property values: evidence before and after Hurricane Floyd. Land Econ 80(4):490–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bin O, Kruse JB, Landry CE (2008) Flood hazards, insurance rates, and amenities: evidence from the coastal housing market. J Risk Insur 75(1):63–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bin O, Bishop JA, Kousky C (2011) Redistributional effects of the National Flood Insurance Program. Technical Report DP 11-14, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Bingham K, Charron M, Kirschner G, Messick R, Sabade S (2006) The role of actuarial soundness in the National Flood Insurance Program. Deloitte Consulting and American Institutes for Research, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Boardman AE, Greenberg DH, Vining AR, Weimer DL (2010) Cost-benefit analysis: concepts and practice, 4th edn. Pearson series in economics. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulware GW (2009) Public policy evaluation of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Ph.D Thesis, University of Florida

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouma JJ, François D, Troch P (2005) Risk assessment and water management. Environ Model Softw 20(2):141–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brody SD, Zahran S, Maghelal P, Grover H, Highfield WE (2007) The rising costs of floods: examining the impact of planning and development decisions on property damage in Florida. J Am Plan Assoc 73(3):330–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown MA (2010a) Anything but a breeze: moving forward without NFIP wind coverage. Boston Coll Environ Aff Law Rev 37(2):365–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown OW (2010b) National Flood Insurance Program: continued actions needed to address financial and operational issues

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown PH, Tullos D, Tilt B, Magee D, Wolf AT (2008) Modeling the costs and benefits of dam construction from a multidisciplinary perspective. J Environ Manag 90:S303–S311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock A, Acreman M (1999) The role of wetlands in the hydrological cycle. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 7(3):358–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock JA, Haddow GD, Ergin DCE, Westerman L, Yeletaysi S (2006) Introduction to homeland security, 2nd edn. Butterworth-Heinemann homeland security series. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington

    Google Scholar 

  • Burby RJ (2001) Flood insurance and floodplain management: the US experience. Glob Environ Chang Part B Environ Hazards 3(3–4):111–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burby RJ, French SP (1981) Coping with floods: the land use management paradox. J Am Plan Assoc 47(3):289–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheatham LR (1975) A case study of some economic aspects of the national flood insurance. Technical Report, Water Resources Research Institute, Mississippi State University, Starkville

    Google Scholar 

  • Comfort LK, Cigler BA, Birkland TA, Nance E (2010) Retrospectives and prospectives on Hurricane Katrina: five years and counting. Public Adm Rev 70(5):669–678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Congressional Budget Office (2009) The National Flood Insurance Program: factors affecting actuarial soundness

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper C, Block R (2006) Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the failure of homeland security. Henry Holt and Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowell M, Coulton K, Johnson C, Westcott J, Bellomo D, Edelman S, Hirsch E (2010) An estimate of the U.S. population living in 100-year coastal flood hazard areas. J Coast Res 26(2):201–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutter SL, Emrich CT (2006) Moral hazard, social catastrophe: the changing face of vulnerability along the hurricane coasts. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci 102–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrow S (2011) Incorporating equity in regulatory and benefit-cost analysis using risk-based preferences. Risk Anal 31(6):902–907

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank RH (2006) Microeconomics and behavior, 6th edn. McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser JC, Doyle MW, Young H (2006) Creating effective flood mitigation policies. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 87(27):265–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman AM III (1989) Ex Ante and Ex Post values for changes in risks. Risk Anal 9(3)

    Google Scholar 

  • Godschalk DR, Brody S, Burby R (2003) Public participation in natural hazard mitigation policy formation: challenges for comprehensive planning. J Environ Plan Manag 46(5):733–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godschalk DR, Rose A, Mittler E, Porter K, West CT (2009) Estimating the value of foresight: aggregate analysis of natural hazard mitigation benefits and costs. J Environ Plan Manag 52(6):739–756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffith CT (1994a) The National Flood Insurance Program: unattained purposes, liability in contract, and takings. William Mary Law Rev 35:727–765

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith RS (1994b) The impact of mandatory purchase requirements for flood insurance on real estate markets. Ph.D Thesis, The University of Texas at Arlington

    Google Scholar 

  • Harberger AC (1978) On the use of distributional weights in social cost-benefit analysis. J Polit Econ 86(2 Part 2: Research in Taxation):S87–S120

    Google Scholar 

  • Herke J (1993) Teething pains at age 25: developing meaningful enforcement of the National Flood Insurance Program. Tulane Environ Law J 7:165–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Hines JR (1999) Three sides of Harberger triangles. J Econ Perspect 13:167–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holway JM, Burby RJ (1990) The effects of floodplain development controls on residential land values. Land Econ 66(3):259–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horne J (2006) Breach of faith: Hurricane Katrina and the near death of a great American city. Random House, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones CP, Coulbourne WL, Marshall J, Rogers SM Jr (2006) Evaluation of the National Flood Insurance Program’s building standards

    Google Scholar 

  • King RO (2005) Federal flood insurance: the repetitive loss problem

    Google Scholar 

  • Kousky C (2008) Responding to risk: information and decision making in the floodplains of St. Louis County, Missouri. Ph.D Thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriesel W, Landry CE (2004) Participation in the National Flood Insurance Program: an empirical analysis for coastal properties. J Risk Insur. 71(3):405–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kunreuther H (2006) Has the time come for comprehensive natural disaster insurance? University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, pp 175–201

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunreuther H, Ginsberg R, Miller L, Sagi P, Slovic P, Borkan B, Katz N (1978) Disaster insurance protection: public policy lessons. Wiley-Interscience, Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambert PJ (2001) The distribution and redistribution of income, 3rd edn. Manchester University Press, Manchester

    Google Scholar 

  • Landis ML (1998) Let me next time be tried by fire: disaster relief and the origins of the American welfare state. Northwest Univ Law Rev 92:967–1034

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry CE, Li J (2011) Participation in the community rating system of NFIP: an empirical analysis of North Carolina counties. Nat Hazard Rev 13(3):205–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawless RM (2005) Bankruptcy filing rates after a major hurricane. Nev Law J 6:7–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Luebken U (2008) Die natur der gefahr. zur geschichte der überschwemmungsversicherung in deutschland und den USA. Behemoth A J Civilis 3:4–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin MA (2008) The impact of flood insurance on development in Ocean City, Maryland. Master’s Thesis, Salisbury University, Salisbury

    Google Scholar 

  • McLeman R, Smit B (2006) Vulnerability to climate change hazards and risks: crop and flood insurance. Can Geogr 50(2):217–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michel-Kerjan E, Kousky C (2010) Come rain or shine: evidence on flood insurance purchases in Florida. J Risk Insur 77(2):369–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michel-Kerjan E, de Forges SL, Kunreuther H (2012) Policy tenure under the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Risk Anal 32(4):644–658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore DE, Cantrell RL (1976) Community response to external demands: an analysis of participation in the federal flood insurance program. Rural Sociol 41(4):484–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss DA (1999) Courting disaster? The transformation of federal disaster policy since 1803, Chap 8. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 307–355

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss M, Schellhamer C, Berman DA (2009) The Stafford Act and priorities for reform. J Homel Secur Emerg Manag 6(1):1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council (2004) Analytical methods and approaches for water resources project planning. Technical Report, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council (2010) A review of the proposed revisions to the federal principles and guidelines water resources planning document. Technical Report, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson W (2004) Microeconomic theory, 9th edn. Thomson South-Western College Pub

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of Management and Budget (1992) Guidelines and discount rates for benefit-cost analysis of federal programs. Technical Report A-94, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Orie M (2013) Case study 2. U.S. National Flood Insurance Program. The Geneva Association, Geneva, pp 23–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez J, Adamowicz WL, Easter KW, Graham-Tomasi T (1988) Ex Post analysis of flood control: benefit-cost analysis and the value of information. Water Resour Res 24(8):1397–1405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumsey MA (2010) Beyond bigger and better: Gilbert White and America’s new approach to floodplain management. Master’s Thesis, Mississippi State University, Starkville

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarmiento C, Miller TR (2006) Costs and consequences of flooding and the impact of the National Flood Insurance Program. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Calverton

    Google Scholar 

  • Scales AF (2006) A nation of policyholders: governmental and market failure in flood insurance. Miss Coll Law Rev 26:3–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Shilling JD, Sirmans CF, Benjamin JD (1989) Flood insurance, wealth redistribution, and urban property values incorporating distributional issues into benefit cost. J Urban Econ 26(1):43–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirmans GS, Macpherson DA, Zietz EN (2005) The composition of hedonic pricing models. J Real Estate Lit 113(1):3–43

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Geological Survey (2010) 100-year flood—it’s all about chance. General Information Product 106

    Google Scholar 

  • Viscusi WK (2000) Risk equity. J Leg Stud 29(S2):843–871

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Water Resources Council (1983) Economic and environmental principles and guidelines for water and related land resources implementation studies. Technical Report, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • White GF (1942) Human adjustment to floods: a geographical approach to the flood problem in the United States. Ph.D Thesis, University of Chicago, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Yasui S (2005) A critical review of the tradition methodology of cost-benefit analysis and a proposed alternative. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 11:411–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yildirim U (1997) The decision to purchase flood insurance: a case study of Reno and Sparks. Master’s Thesis, University of Nevada, Reno

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Columbia, MD, USA

    James P. Howard II

Authors
  1. James P. Howard II
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Howard, J.P. (2016). Literature Review. In: Socioeconomic Effects of the National Flood Insurance Program. SpringerBriefs in Political Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29063-8_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation