Citation

Ripberger JT, Jenkins-Smith HC, Silva CL, Czajkowski J, Kunreuther H, Simmons KM. Risk Anal. 2018; 38(11): 2300-2317.

Affiliation

Economics and Business Administration, Austin College, Sherman, TX, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Society for Risk Analysis, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/risa.13131

PMID

29975987

Abstract

Tornadoes impose enormous costs on society. Relatively simple and inexpensive enhancements to building codes may reduce these costs by 30% or more, but only one city in the United States has adopted these codes. Why is this the case? This analysis addresses this question by examining homeowner support for more stringent building codes in Oklahoma, a conservative state that routinely experiences damaging tornadoes. Survey data show that support for mandatory mitigation policies like building codes is subject to countervailing forces. Push dynamics, including objective risk data, homeowners' risk perceptions, and damage experience, encourage support for mitigation. Pull dynamics, such as individualistic and conservative worldviews, and skepticism about climate change, generate opposition. At the margin, the pull dynamics appear to exert more force than push dynamics, creating only a weak basis of support that is not strong enough to overcome the status quo bias in a state that is cautious about regulatory measures. The concluding section offers suggestions for changing these dynamics.

© 2018 The Authors Risk Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Risk Analysis.

Language: en

Keywords

Building codes; culture; risk mitigation; risk perception; tornadoes