Joseph E. Aldy, Harvard Kennedy School

Flood protection infrastructure investments, such as Army Corps of Engineer levees, can enhance resilience to flood risks amplified by climate change. We estimate the benefits from levees by exploiting repeat residential property transactions. In areas protected by levees, home values increase 3 percent. Levees impose adverse spillover flood risks to nearby areas that reduce affected home values by 1 percent. Capitalized benefits in protected areas are progressive, but adverse spillover impacts are regressive. While there is little variation across race in capitalized benefits at levee construction, racial sorting occurs post-construction. Capitalized residential property benefits do not exceed levee construction costs.