In response to market incentives, private developers are protecting shorelines where traditional bureaucratic management has led to erosion and pollution. As consumer affluence and environmental knowledge increase, this trend will accelerate, especially where property owners have similar tastes and a strong system of protective covenants.

James R. Rinehart is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and professor emeritus of economics at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina.
Jeffrey J. Pompe is Professor of Business at Francis Marion University and a contributor to Re-Thinking Green: Alternatives to Environmental Bureaucracy.
Business and EntrepreneurshipEconomic History and DevelopmentEconomyEnergy and the EnvironmentEnvironmental Law and RegulationLaw and LibertyNatural ResourcesProperty Rights, Land Use, and ZoningPublic Choice
Other Independent Review articles by James R. Rinehart
Fall 2008 Property Insurance for Coastal Residents: Governments’ “Ill Wind”
Other Independent Review articles by Jeffrey J. Pompe
Spring 2011 The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery: Social Learning in a Post-Disaster Environment
Fall 2008 Property Insurance for Coastal Residents: Governments’ “Ill Wind”