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The Death Toll from Natural Disasters: The Role of Income, Geography and Institutions: Comment

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  • Eiji Yamamura

    (Seinan Gakuin University)

Abstract

Kahn (2005) found that ethnic heterogeneity reduces the number of deaths caused by natural disasters, a finding that is contrary to theoretical predictions. This paper casts doubt on this finding and conducts a re-estimation. To control for measurement problems, I have used not only an ethnic fractionalization index but also an ethnic polarization index to capture ethnic heterogeneity. The key finding is that ethnic polarization is positively related to number of deaths, while ethnic fractionalization is not. This implies that ethnic polarization is a more appropriate measure for ethnic heterogeneity than ethnic fractionalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Eiji Yamamura, 2012. "The Death Toll from Natural Disasters: The Role of Income, Geography and Institutions: Comment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(2), pages 1545-1554.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-11-00844
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard S. J. Tol, 2022. "State capacity and vulnerability to natural disasters," Chapters, in: Mark Skidmore (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Disasters, chapter 20, pages 434-457, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Liu, Xinyan & Xu, Yunjiao, 2021. "Unexpected opportunity for girls: Earthquake, disaster relief and female education in China's poor counties," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    3. Richard S. J. Tol, 2021. "The Economic Impact of Climate in the Long Run," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Anil Markandya & Dirk Rübbelke (ed.), CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT, chapter 1, pages 3-36, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Deaths; Natural disaster; Ethnic fractionalization; Ethic polarization; Legal origin; Institution.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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