Abstract
Japan is famous for its earthquakes. How do households and firms respond to this potentially devastating risk? How does earthquake risk affect housing costs and wages? To answer these questions, we construct a Quality of Life Index (QOLI) and estimate the social cost of earthquake risk among cities/counties in Japan. The regional QOLI is obtained through estimating the hedonic wage and housing rent regressions using household longitudinal data covering all Japan. From the estimated results, we find that earthquake risk has a significant impact on the overall quality of life in Japanese prefectures, and that there are large city/county differences in terms of the social cost of earthquake risk. Finally, we argue that the large regional variation in the social cost of earthquakes arises from earthquake insurance market imperfections - crude and rough geographical risk rating - and propose a possible remedy for enhancing earthquake insurance risk assessment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 313-334 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Journal of Property Research |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 Dec |
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Keywords
- Earthquake insurance
- Earthquake risk
- Quality of life
- Social costs of earthquake
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Urban Studies
Cite this
Earthquakes and the quality of life in Japan. / Naoi, Michio; Sumita, Kazuto; Seko, Miki.
In: Journal of Property Research, Vol. 24, No. 4, 12.2007, p. 313-334.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Earthquakes and the quality of life in Japan
AU - Naoi, Michio
AU - Sumita, Kazuto
AU - Seko, Miki
PY - 2007/12
Y1 - 2007/12
N2 - Japan is famous for its earthquakes. How do households and firms respond to this potentially devastating risk? How does earthquake risk affect housing costs and wages? To answer these questions, we construct a Quality of Life Index (QOLI) and estimate the social cost of earthquake risk among cities/counties in Japan. The regional QOLI is obtained through estimating the hedonic wage and housing rent regressions using household longitudinal data covering all Japan. From the estimated results, we find that earthquake risk has a significant impact on the overall quality of life in Japanese prefectures, and that there are large city/county differences in terms of the social cost of earthquake risk. Finally, we argue that the large regional variation in the social cost of earthquakes arises from earthquake insurance market imperfections - crude and rough geographical risk rating - and propose a possible remedy for enhancing earthquake insurance risk assessment.
AB - Japan is famous for its earthquakes. How do households and firms respond to this potentially devastating risk? How does earthquake risk affect housing costs and wages? To answer these questions, we construct a Quality of Life Index (QOLI) and estimate the social cost of earthquake risk among cities/counties in Japan. The regional QOLI is obtained through estimating the hedonic wage and housing rent regressions using household longitudinal data covering all Japan. From the estimated results, we find that earthquake risk has a significant impact on the overall quality of life in Japanese prefectures, and that there are large city/county differences in terms of the social cost of earthquake risk. Finally, we argue that the large regional variation in the social cost of earthquakes arises from earthquake insurance market imperfections - crude and rough geographical risk rating - and propose a possible remedy for enhancing earthquake insurance risk assessment.
KW - Earthquake insurance
KW - Earthquake risk
KW - Quality of life
KW - Social costs of earthquake
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=61349088163&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=61349088163&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09599910801916212
DO - 10.1080/09599910801916212
M3 - Article
VL - 24
SP - 313
EP - 334
JO - Journal of Property Research
JF - Journal of Property Research
SN - 0959-9916
IS - 4
ER -