中文摘要
本文考察美国官方洪水风险信息的提供及其对居民洪水保险参保率的分配影响。通过整理卡特里娜飓风后制作的所有洪水地图，我记录到更新后的地图减少了被划入高风险洪泛区的房产数量，并错误地遗漏了500万处房产，这些房产主要位于黑人和西班牙裔居民较多的社区。利用地图更新的交错时点，我估计更新后的地图降低了洪水保险参保率，并加剧了保险覆盖率方面的种族差异。尽管过去的地图更新扭曲了风险和价格信号，但修正洪水地图将带来可观的福利收益。(JEL D83, G22, G52, J15, Q54)
Abstract
This paper examines the provision of official flood risk information in the United States and its distributional impacts on residential flood insurance take-up. Assembling all flood maps produced after Hurricane Katrina, I document that updated maps decreased the number of properties zoned in high-risk floodplains and incorrectly omitted five million properties, primarily in neighborhoods with more Black and Hispanic residents. Leveraging the staggered timing of map updates, I estimate that updated maps decreased flood insurance take-up and exacerbated racial disparities in insurance coverage. While past map updates distorted risk and price signals, correcting flood maps would yield substantial welfare gains. (JEL D83, G22, G52, J15, Q54)