Cost and Benefits of Climate Change Adaptation Policies: Evidence from an RCT and Extreme Flooding in Pakistan

This study estimates the damage costs of climate change by incorporating the specific costs and benefits of adaptation measures across various environmental scenarios. The researchers utilized a three-year tracking period of households in rural Sindh, Pakistan, which included exposure to extreme monsoon flooding in 2016. This field-based approach allowed for a precise analysis of how targeted preparedness programs can foster resilience against adverse weather shocks. The methodology specifically compared communities participating in a humanitarian aid program to a randomly selected control group. By doing so, the authors were able to quantify improvements in health and food security directly attributable to the intervention.

The findings demonstrate that proactive adaptation investments are highly effective and can pay for themselves within a very short timeframe. In fact, the analysis suggests that these measures have the potential to significantly reduce the social costs of carbon when viewed over a long-term horizon. The research highlights that identifying strategies to mitigate the social cost of carbon is essential for achieving sustainable outcomes. Despite the success of the program, the authors acknowledge that many standard climate models have historically failed to differentiate between various adaptation scenarios. This study fills that gap by providing empirical evidence of how local policies impact economic stability.

The authors estimate $101.47 in damages per household for those left unprotected during a flood event. The paper notes that in 2020, the U.S. government reportedly underestimated the societal costs of carbon dioxide by approximately 3.6 times. While some models suggest a social cost of carbon (SCC) range between $35 and $115, newer predictions using extreme event data place it as high as $1,056 per ton of CO2. Additionally, the study observed that insurance density in the studied region was extremely low, estimated at a mere $4 per person. These figures underscore the high return on investment for humanitarian and climate preparedness programs in vulnerable regions.

Avdeenko, Alexandra, and Markus Frölich. "Cost and Benefits of Climate Change Adaptation Policies: Evidence from an RCT and Extreme Flooding in Pakistan." *Journal of the European Economic Association* 23, no. 5 (October 2025): 1950–2002. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvaf012

Does Urban Overheating Affect Neighborhood Attractiveness? Evidence from the French Housing Market

This article investigates urban overheating as an environmental "dis-amenity" that negatively impacts the health and quality of life for residents. By reducing the attractiveness of certain neighborhoods, overheating is hypothesized to exert downward pressure on housing prices. The study utilizes a unique "Thermocity" dataset, which provides high-resolution nighttime land surface temperature data from satellite observations across four French urban units. The methodology combines this climatic data with an exhaustive record of housing transactions from 2013 to 2019. To ensure accuracy, the author employs an "instrumental variable approach" using wind speed to address potential endogeneity in local temperature readings.

The analysis reveals a statistically significant negative relationship between local temperature increases and property values. This effect is not uniform across all studied areas, showing substantial variation between different urban units. The findings are robust even when using alternative measures of overheating from different data sources. As urbanization continues to increase and global temperatures rise, the incidence of urban overheating is expected to become a more prominent factor in the housing market. The research suggests that nearly 81.5% of the French population is now living in urban areas, making this a critical issue for public policy and urban planning.

The most striking finding is that a 1 °C increase in urban overheating is associated with a 2.2% decrease in housing prices. The study analyzed a total of four French urban areas using satellite data. The housing transaction dataset spanned a seven-year period from 2013 to 2019. Furthermore, the study notes that 81.5% of the French population currently resides in urban areas where these overheating effects are most pronounced. These results provide clear evidence of the economic "penalty" associated with living in heat-stressed urban environments.

Vincent, Pierre. "Does Urban Overheating Affect Neighborhood Attractiveness? Evidence from the French Housing Market." *Journal of Housing Economics* 71 (2026): 102111.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137725000701