Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Protecting the Coastline - Optimal Coastal Inundation Adaptation Mechanisms

近年来，猛烈的风暴和相关的沿海洪水事件对美国东海岸的沿海社区造成了相当大的破坏。科学家预测，由于海平面上升和海洋温度升高，这些事件可能会增加。通过对沿海基础设施进行公共投资，可以最大限度地减少这种损害，在某些情况下还可以防止这种损害。然而，与产权和风险认知相关的问题可能会使政府规划者难以设计有效的基础设施系统。因此，这一领域的公共政策往往相当困难，导致保护措施拼凑在一起，使得一些沿海地区受到的保护比没有综合保护系统时要少。在这种情况下，传统经济理论所建议的协调政策并不适用，这是因为风暴潮和洪水造成的破坏涉及一系列非线性的、空间上明确的水文过程，以及由于决策环境的复杂性可能导致的行为低效。这项研究使用经济实验来调查在政府直接行动不可行的情况下用于沿海基础设施规划的政策工具。这项研究试图确定能够有效保护沿海地区的自愿机制，通过创建？智能？建立足以建立综合沿海保护的激励结构。这项研究以实验经济学、数学规划、博弈论和水文模型等技术为基础，将解决“如何设计激励机制，通过沿海土地所有者的自愿行动来创建有效的海岸保护体系？”在最近的大型沿海飓风之后，许多沿海国家对探索海岸保护的适应和实施策略产生了浓厚的兴趣。例如，在大西洋中部，特拉华州、新泽西州、纽约州和康涅狄格州最近都成立了机构，调查潜在的脆弱性和对海平面上升的适应反应。这些机构提出的挑战之一是在独立的地方当局和土地所有者之间协调应对措施。这项研究将采用已经成功应用于其他领域的“智能市场”技术，如公用事业和交通基础设施的发展。这些方法可以建立一个类似市场的交换环境，同时也考虑到通常在传统市场之外的空间和信息问题。通过在实验经济学实验室中用人类参与者和直接的财政激励来测试替代政策结构，这项研究将提供关键的见解，即考虑到沿海地区风暴潮和海平面上升的物理和环境动态，哪些政策将在协调当地决策者方面最有效。

Recent years have seen considerable damages to coastal communities along the eastern coast of the United States from violent storms and related coastal inundation events. Scientists predict that these events will likely increase due to sea level rise and greater ocean temperatures. This damage can be minimized, and in some cases prevented, through public investment in coastal infrastructure. However, issues associated with property rights and risk perception may make it difficult for government planners to design an effective infrastructure system. Thus, public policy in this area tends to be quite difficult and has resulted in a patchwork of protective measures that have left some coastal areas less protected than they would otherwise be with an integrated system of protections. The coordination policies recommended by traditional economic theory fall short in this case because of a combination of non-linear, spatially-explicit hydrological processes involved in generating the damages caused by storm surge and inundation, as well as possible behavioral inefficiencies due to the complexity of the decision environment. This research uses economic experiments to investigate policy tools for use in coastal infrastructure planning in the case where direct government action is not feasible. This research seeks to identify voluntary mechanisms that can effectively protect coastal areas by creating ?smart? incentive structures sufficient to create integrated coastal protections. Building upon the techniques of experimental economics, mathematical programming, game theory, and hydrologic modeling, this research will address the question, "How can incentive mechanisms be designed to create an effective coastal protection system through voluntary action of coastal landowners?"In the wake of recent large coastal hurricanes, many coastal states have become keenly interested in exploring adaption and implementation strategies for coastal protections. For instance in the mid-Atlantic, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, have all recently established bodies to investigate potential vulnerabilities and adaptation responses to sea level rise. One of the challenges expressed by these agencies is the coordination of responses among independent local authorities and landowners. This research will adapt "Smart Market" techniques that have been successfully applied to address issues in other arenas, such as the development of utility and transportation infrastructure. These approaches can establish a market-like exchange environment, while also accounting for spatial and informational issues that are usually external to traditional markets. By testing alternative policy structures in the experimental economics laboratory with human participants and direct financial incentives, this research will provide key insights into the question of what policies will be most effective in coordinating local decision makers given the physical and environmental dynamic of storm surges and sea level rise in coastal areas.