Type

Journal Article

Author(s)

Vikhrov, D.
Stojanov, R.
Duzi, B.
Juricka, D.

Title

Commuting patterns of Czech households exposed to flood risk from the Bečva river

Year

2014

Journal

Environmental Hazards

Vol (No), pp

13(1), 58-72

Abstract

Using unique data collected in October–December 2012 we estimate the link between commuting for work and level of individual exposure to floods. We find that commuters on average have higher earnings than non-commuters. Individuals affected by one flood commute by 11.2% more than unaffected individuals. We conjecture that the increase is linked to intentions to cover flood-related losses, decrease households’ vulnerability to flood risk or out-migrate from the risk areas. Individuals affected by at least two floods are by 20.2% less likely to commute relative to those unaffected. We explain this non-linear effect by the fact that many households out-migrate after the first flood. Stayers commute less, because they are different from non-stayers in some underlying characteristics related to education, employment and family circumstances, which strongly affect commuting behaviour. We further find that in a commuting family an individual is by 53.8% more likely to commence commuting relative to a non-commuting family. Choice of commuting destination is often similar to that of other family members.

Citation

Vikhrov, D., Stojanov, R., Duzi, B., & Juricka, D. (2014). Commuting patterns of Czech households exposed to flood risk from the Bečva river. Environmental Hazards, 13(1), 58-72. URL : http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17477891.2013.864593