Yanjun (Penny) Liao
Fellow
Yanjun (Penny) Liao is an economist and Fellow at Resources for the Future. Her current research focuses on issues of natural disaster risk management and climate adaptation. In a series of ongoing projects, she investigates how flood risk and the design of flood insurance program affect housing markets, the mortgage system, and location decisions of households with different demographics. She has also studied the impacts of disasters on local government budgets, housing markets, and demographic changes. In a secondary research agenda, Liao studies consumer behavior regarding the adoption of clean technology in the electricity and transportation sector.
Liao is also a research fellow at the Wharton Risk Center, where she conducted her postdoctoral research during 2019-21. Before that, she earned her PhD in economics from UC San Diego in 2019.
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Working Paper — May 4, 2023
Jobs at Risk: Sea Level Rise, Coastal Flooding, and Local Economies
This study assesses the exposure of local economies to tidal flooding in the Chesapeake Bay region, finding that nearly 50% more jobs will be exposed to 100-year flooding in 2050.
Explainer — Apr 10, 2023
Climate Scenario Analysis 101
This explainer provides an overview of how financial institutions can understand the risks of climate change and its possible financial ramifications.
Journal Article — Feb 16, 2023
Unpriced Climate Risk and the Potential Consequences of Overvaluation in US Housing Markets
Unpriced Climate Risk and the Potential Consequences of Overvaluation in US Housing Markets
Journal Article — Dec 23, 2022
How Hurricanes Sweep Up Housing Markets: Evidence from Florida
How Hurricanes Sweep Up Housing Markets: Evidence from Florida
Working Paper — May 4, 2023
Jobs at Risk: Sea Level Rise, Coastal Flooding, and Local Economies
This study assesses the exposure of local economies to tidal flooding in the Chesapeake Bay region, finding that nearly 50% more jobs will be exposed to 100-year flooding in 2050.
Explainer — Apr 10, 2023
Climate Scenario Analysis 101
This explainer provides an overview of how financial institutions can understand the risks of climate change and its possible financial ramifications.
Journal Article — Feb 16, 2023
Unpriced Climate Risk and the Potential Consequences of Overvaluation in US Housing Markets
Unpriced Climate Risk and the Potential Consequences of Overvaluation in US Housing Markets
Journal Article — Dec 23, 2022
How Hurricanes Sweep Up Housing Markets: Evidence from Florida
How Hurricanes Sweep Up Housing Markets: Evidence from Florida
Common Resources — May 4, 2023
Climate-Smart Economies: Coordinating Economic Development with Resilience Planning
Coordinating policies that spur job creation and improve community resilience can help mitigate the impacts of climate change on local infrastructure, jobs, and economies in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Resources Radio — Feb 21, 2023
How Can Disasters Damage Local Budgets?, with Yanjun (Penny) Liao
Yanjun (Penny) Liao discusses how natural disasters affect local tax revenues and the ability of local governments to provide community services.
Common Resources — Feb 16, 2023
Flood Bubble: How Housing Markets Underestimate Climate Change
Homes in areas that are vulnerable to flooding are overvalued by $121–$237 billion, finds a new study coauthored by RFF Fellow Yanjun (Penny) Liao. In this blog post, Liao examines the implications for households, communities, and policymakers.
In Focus — Sep 23, 2022
In Focus: The Fiscal Impacts of California’s Wildfires
This video shares insights on wildfires and their fiscal consequences for city and local governments, with RFF Fellow Penny Liao.
Media Highlight — May 16, 2023
Marketplace: "Flood Insurance Program Updates Hit Homeowners Hard"
RFF Fellow Penny Liao is quoted in a highly syndicated piece about rising flood insurance costs.
Media Highlight — May 15, 2023
Public News Service: "Report: Rising Sea Levels to Impact Chesapeake Bay Region's Economy"
A piece syndicated across Virginia radio stations discusses a new RFF report about job loss due to Chesapeake Bay sea level rise.
Press Release — May 4, 2023
Sea Level Rise in the Chesapeake Region May Expose Over 263,000 Jobs to Flood Risk by 2050
A new working paper has found that, due to sea level rise, approximately 87,000 more jobs near the Chesapeake Bay will be at risk of a 100-year flood event in 2050 compared to present.
Press Release — Feb 27, 2023
EPA Awards $1.35 Million Grant to Multi-Institutional Team for Septic Adaptation Research
Resources for the Future scholars Margaret Walls and Yanjun (Penny) Liao are part of a team that will spend the next two years researching the compound issues of climate change and septic failure in coastal Maryland.