RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Resource Allocation under Fire
JF Land Economics
JO Land Econ
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 92
OP 110
DO 10.3368/le.96.1.92
VO 96
IS 1
A1 Bayham, Jude
A1 Yoder, Jonathan K.
YR 2020
UL http://le.uwpress.org/content/96/1/92.abstract
AB Rising suppression cost and severity of wildfires in the United States have prompted debate over federal wildfire management policy. We estimate an econometric model of suppression resource allocation using a dynamic panel dataset on over 500 wildfires in the western United States. We find that more hand crews and engines are dispatched to fires that threaten homes, while more aircraft are dispatched to fires that start near higher-value homes. We combine our results with projected housing growth estimates in California to show that suppression expenditures may rise by nearly $24 million per year. (JEL Q23, Q28)