Sea Level Rise and Urban Adaptation

Abstract

Sea level rise poses an existential threat to Jakarta, which faces frequent and worsening flooding. The government has responded with a proposed sea wall. In this setting, I study how government intervention complicates long-run adaptation by creating coastal moral hazard. I quantify this force with a dynamic spatial model of urban development and flooding. I show that moral hazard generates coastal lock-in by delaying inland migration, and I evaluate policies for reducing this friction.