The Economics of Natural Disasters: A Survey

Natural disasters are by no means new, yet the evolving understanding of their relevance to economic development and growth is still in its infancy. This paper summarizes the state of the economic literature examining the aggregate impact of disasters. The paper reviews the main disaster data sources available, discusses the determinants of the direct effects of disasters, and distinguishes between short- and long-run indirect effects. The paper then examines some of the relevant policy questions and follows up with projections about the likelihood of future disasters. The paper ends by identifying several significant gaps in the literature.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Inter-American Development Bank
Other Authors: Eduardo A. Cavallo
Format: Working Papers biblioteca
Language:English
Published: Inter-American Development Bank
Subjects:Climate Change, Disaster, O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development, O40 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity: General, Q54 - Climate • Natural Disasters and Their Management • Global Warming, IDB-WP-124,
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0010924
https://publications.iadb.org/en/economics-natural-disasters-survey
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Summary:Natural disasters are by no means new, yet the evolving understanding of their relevance to economic development and growth is still in its infancy. This paper summarizes the state of the economic literature examining the aggregate impact of disasters. The paper reviews the main disaster data sources available, discusses the determinants of the direct effects of disasters, and distinguishes between short- and long-run indirect effects. The paper then examines some of the relevant policy questions and follows up with projections about the likelihood of future disasters. The paper ends by identifying several significant gaps in the literature.