Measuring the Public Supply of Private Hedges for Disaster Prevention

Abstract

Although typically considered private goods, some private hedges are supported by the public sector through subsidies or regulations because they serve a public function such as contributing to the environment, landscape, and disaster prevention. When a big earthquake occurs, death or injury often is a result of collapsing structures such as concrete brick fences. A pressing problem is converting unsafe structures into safe structures as soon as possible. This chapter examines the current state of public supply to privately owned hedges as private goods. Various measures of direct supply are considered such as regulation, induction and attraction, and enlightenment concerning hedges in Japan. The main means of promoting the public supply of hedges is induction, particularly the subsidy system. Enlightenment measures are performed in specific ways. However, direct supply and direct regulation are not typical. Considering public support of hedges, the systems should be enriched to aggressively advance hedge-ization.