Empirical analysis of Japanese flood risk acceptability within multi-risk context

Abstract. This paper establishes a framework of a multi-risk context for analyzing acceptable risk beyond single-risk context and empirically examines how other risks affects flood risk acceptability based on Rational Action Paradigm (RAP) by using a survey conducted in the Toki-Shonai River region of Japan. The main findings obtained by cross-sectional analysis and covariance structure analysis within a multi-risk context can be summarized as follows.

– Nearly half of the respondents accept no flood risk at all.

– Flood risk acceptability depends on not only on the factors of flood risk itself (e.g. frequency, consequence, and characteristics), but also other types of risks involved in our technological society.

– Flood risk acceptability is associated with a multi-risk context. Whether a risk is accepted depends on its perceived importance relative to others as well as the balance of its cost and benefit. Providing budget information and ensuring preparedness for flood risk may also affect the acceptability.