Replication Data for: How does the removal of federal subsidies affect investment in coastal protection infrastructure?

Shoreline armoring, which involves the installation of hardened structures to protect coastal property, dramatically alters shoreline composition and resulting ecological functions. Accelerating hazard threats to growing coastal communities compounds this problem, creating demand for more armoring. We examine whether designation by the U.S. Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) – enacted to disincentivize urban development on hazardous coastal barriers – is associated with lower propensities to armor shorelines. In designated areas, CBRA removes access to federally-subsidized flood insurance, infrastructure subsidies, and disaster assistance. Using logistic regression modeling, we examine armoring at the parcel scale across the State of Florida (USA), controlling for CBRA designation, land use, and local population density. Our findings reveal a significant negative relationship between CBRA designation and the odds of armoring, particularly for residential and vacant properties. As coastal areas grapple with increasing impacts from coastal hazards, removal of public subsidies may be an effective non-regulatory method for maintaining the ecological and protective benefits of natural shorelines. The material provided here include the necessary data + scripts (in the R programming language) needed to replicate our analysis.

海岸线加固（Shoreline armoring）指安装硬化结构以保护沿海财产，它会显著改变海岸线构成及由此产生的生态功能。沿海社区不断扩张，灾害威胁日益加剧，这使得问题更加复杂，进而催生了对更多加固措施的需求。我们研究了美国《海岸屏障资源法案》（U.S. Coastal Barrier Resources Act, CBRA）的指定——该法案旨在抑制危险海岸屏障区域的城市开发——是否与较低的海岸线加固倾向相关。在指定区域，CBRA取消了获取联邦补贴洪水保险、基础设施补贴及灾害援助的途径。通过逻辑回归建模，我们在地块尺度上研究了美国佛罗里达州全州范围内的海岸线加固情况，并控制了CBRA指定、土地利用及当地人口密度等变量。研究结果显示，CBRA指定与加固概率之间存在显著的负相关关系，尤其在住宅和空置地块中表现明显。随着沿海地区应对日益严重的海岸灾害影响，取消公共补贴或许是维持自然海岸线生态及防护效益的一种有效非监管手段。此处提供的材料包含复制我们分析所需的必要数据及脚本（采用R编程语言）。