Abstract -- Although advances in meterological tracking and forecasting have in some sense reduced the number of death and injury from such hazards in Taiwan, the dollar value of property damage has significantly increased, especially at some certain areas. To mitigate the natural hazards and protect the life and property of residents, public sector has adopted structural and nonstructural measures to meet our needs. But as we progress toward the goal of a less hazardous environment, each successive improvement becomes more costly to accomplish than before. Therefore, public policy making inevitably involved balancing the costs of a policy with the benefits.
The purpose of this study is to establish some reliable methods to estimate benefits associated with the reduction of flooding risks. The main tasks of first year will include an emphasis on the reasoning of valuation techniques and a comparison between traditional cost-benefit analysis and other extended approaches, as well as data bank construction. More specifically, how nonmarket valuations can be used to estimate values concerning the use of a public good will be examined. From that, more appropriate valuation methods may be induced. As for the second year, an empirical research will practically be applied to the hsichih areas. The attempt is to use the valuation approach to measure the amount that people would be willing to pay for a public good. Thus this two-year research program should undertake a study of the general valuation method’s theory and practice in a systematic and thorough fashion to meet the needs of the Sponsoring Program of the Water Resources Agency, Department of Economic Affairs.