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Urban Sprawl and the Public Provision of Fire Suppression

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  • Aric Shafran

    (Department of Economics, California Polytechnic State University)

Abstract

Population growth in the wildland urban interface (WUI) has put a greater number of houses at risk due to wildfire while often straining the resources of fire suppression agencies and contributing to a dramatic increase in wildfire suppression expenditures. In light of these facts, this paper analyzes the consequences of the public provision of fire suppression in a monocentric city where wildfire risk is endogenously determined through the choice of where to live. Public provision leads to increased development in the WUI, higher suppression costs, and an overall decrease in welfare. Differentiated taxes based on fire risk could reduce sprawl, improve welfare and lower suppression costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Aric Shafran, 2016. "Urban Sprawl and the Public Provision of Fire Suppression," Working Papers 1603, California Polytechnic State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpl:wpaper:1603
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wildefire; wildland urban interface; fire suprression; land use; urban sprawl;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy

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