IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_10502.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of a Large-Scale Natural Disaster on Local Economic Activity: Evidence from the 2003 Bam Earthquake in Iran

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
  • Sven Fischer

Abstract

This study provides new causal evidence for the impact of a large-scale natural disaster on local economic activity in Iran using nighttime light intensity. We apply the synthetic control method (SCM) and nighttime light (NTL) data from 1992 to 2020 for 31 provinces and 429 counties to study the impact of the 2003 Bam earthquake in the Iranian Kerman Province. According to the results and statistical inference tests for the SCM, Bam County and four neighboring counties experienced a statistically significant boost in economic activity in the years following the earthquake. This increase in local economic activity can be explained by the combination of several factors, such as an unprecedented inflow of national and international disaster relief during the reformist government of President Khatami, the political trust and mobilization of civil society in this period, the cultural importance of Bam, the severity of the earthquake, and the media attention. Additionally, economic activity in Bam County returns to its pre-disaster development path after seven years.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Sven Fischer, 2023. "The Impact of a Large-Scale Natural Disaster on Local Economic Activity: Evidence from the 2003 Bam Earthquake in Iran," CESifo Working Paper Series 10502, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10502
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10502.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Firpo Sergio & Possebom Vitor, 2018. "Synthetic Control Method: Inference, Sensitivity Analysis and Confidence Sets," Journal of Causal Inference, De Gruyter, vol. 6(2), pages 1-26, September.
    2. David Strömberg, 2007. "Natural Disasters, Economic Development, and Humanitarian Aid," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 199-222, Summer.
    3. Noy, Ilan, 2009. "The macroeconomic consequences of disasters," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 221-231, March.
    4. Bruno Ferman & Cristine Pinto & Vitor Possebom, 2020. "Cherry Picking with Synthetic Controls," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 510-532, March.
    5. Fırat Bilgel & Burhan Can Karahasan, 2017. "The Economic Costs of Separatist Terrorism in Turkey," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 61(2), pages 457-479, February.
    6. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Bernd Hayo, 2019. "Sanctions and the shadow economy: empirical evidence from Iranian provinces," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 501-505, March.
    7. Hiroki Onuma & Kong Joo Shin & Shunsuke Managi, 2021. "Short-, Medium-, and Long-Term Growth Impacts of Catastrophic and Non-catastrophic Natural Disasters," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 53-70, April.
    8. Iverson-Love Joseph, 2022. "The effect of natural disaster on economic growth: Evidence from a major earthquake in Haiti," Post-Print hal-03924750, HAL.
    9. Abadie, Alberto & Diamond, Alexis & Hainmueller, Jens, 2010. "Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California’s Tobacco Control Program," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(490), pages 493-505.
    10. Daniel Aldrich, 2011. "The power of people: social capital’s role in recovery from the 1995 Kobe earthquake," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 56(3), pages 595-611, March.
    11. Elliott, Robert J.R. & Strobl, Eric & Sun, Puyang, 2015. "The local impact of typhoons on economic activity in China: A view from outer space," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 50-66.
    12. William duPont IV & Ilan Noy, 2015. "What Happened to Kobe? A Reassessment of the Impact of the 1995 Earthquake in Japan," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(4), pages 777-812.
    13. Kiyoyasu Tanaka & Souknilanh Keola, 2017. "Shedding Light on the Shadow Economy: A Nighttime Light Approach," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(1), pages 32-48, January.
    14. Horiuchi, Yusaku & Mayerson, Asher, 2015. "The Opportunity Cost of Conflict: Statistically Comparing Israel and Synthetic Israel," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(3), pages 609-618, September.
    15. Barone, Guglielmo & Mocetti, Sauro, 2014. "Natural disasters, growth and institutions: A tale of two earthquakes," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 52-66.
    16. Mohsen Ghafory-Ashtiany & Mahmood Hosseini, 2008. "Post-Bam earthquake: recovery and reconstruction," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 44(2), pages 229-241, February.
    17. Martin Gassebner & Alexander Keck & Robert Teh, 2010. "Shaken, Not Stirred: The Impact of Disasters on International Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 351-368, May.
    18. Smith, Brock, 2015. "The resource curse exorcised: Evidence from a panel of countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 57-73.
    19. Alberto Abadie & Jérémy L’Hour, 2021. "A Penalized Synthetic Control Estimator for Disaggregated Data," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 116(536), pages 1817-1834, October.
    20. Tilottama Ghosh & Sharolyn J. Anderson & Christopher D. Elvidge & Paul C. Sutton, 2013. "Using Nighttime Satellite Imagery as a Proxy Measure of Human Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(12), pages 1-32, November.
    21. Sven Fischer, 2021. "Post-Disaster Spillovers: Evidence from Iranian Provinces," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-26, April.
    22. Alberto Abadie & Javier Gardeazabal, 2003. "The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 113-132, March.
    23. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin, 2014. "Naturally negative: The growth effects of natural disasters," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 92-106.
    24. Cheong, Juyoung & Kwak, Do Won & Yuan, Haishan, 2017. "Trade to aid: EU's temporary tariff waivers for flood-hit Pakistan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 70-88.
    25. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2022. "The Economic Cost of the Islamic Revolution and War for Iran: Synthetic Counterfactual Evidence," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 129-149, February.
    26. Cuong Nhu Nguyen & Ilan Noy, 2020. "Measuring the impact of insurance on urban earthquake recovery using nightlights [Simple diagnostic tests for spatial dependence]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 857-877.
    27. Albala-Bertrand, J. M., 1993. "Political Economy of Large Natural Disasters: With Special Reference to Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287650.
    28. Gharehgozli, Orkideh, 2017. "An estimation of the economic cost of recent sanctions on Iran using the synthetic control method," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 141-144.
    29. Noy, Ilan & duPont IV, William, 2018. "The Long-Term Consequences of Disasters: What Do We Know, and What We Still Don't," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 12(4), pages 325-354, December.
    30. de Roux, Nicolás & Riehl, Evan, 2022. "Disrupted academic careers: The returns to time off after high school," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    31. Joseph, Iverson-Love, 2022. "The effect of natural disaster on economic growth: Evidence from a major earthquake in Haiti," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huang, Lulu & Liu, Qiannan & Tang, Yugang, 2024. "Long-term economic impact of disasters: Evidence from multiple earthquakes in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    2. Samuel Verevis & Murat Üngör, 2021. "What has New Zealand gained from The FTA with China?: Two counterfactual analyses†," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(1), pages 20-50, February.
    3. David Gilchrist & Thomas Emery & Nuno Garoupa & Rok Spruk, 2023. "Synthetic Control Method: A tool for comparative case studies in economic history," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 409-445, April.
    4. Bruno Ferman & Cristine Pinto & Vitor Possebom, 2020. "Cherry Picking with Synthetic Controls," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 510-532, March.
    5. Rohan Best & Paul J. Burke, 2019. "Macroeconomic impacts of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 1647-1681, May.
    6. Diego D'iaz & Pablo Paniagua & Cristi'an Larroulet, 2024. "Earthquakes and the wealth of nations: The cases of Chile and New Zealand," Papers 2405.12041, arXiv.org.
    7. Ferman, Bruno & Pinto, Cristine, 2016. "Revisiting the Synthetic Control Estimator," MPRA Paper 73982, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin & Sanders, Mark & Schippers, Vincent & Steinwachs, Thomas, 2018. "Shedding Light on the Spatial Diffusion of Disasters," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181556, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Margherita Russo & Francesco Pagliacci, 2016. "Socio-economic effects of an earthquake:does sub-regional counterfactual sampling matter in estimates? An empirical test on the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0139, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    10. Pier Basaglia & Sophie M. Behr & Moritz A. Drupp, 2023. "De-Fueling Externalities: How Tax Salience and Fuel Substitution Mediate Climate and Health Benefits," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2041, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Juan S. Mora‐Sanguinetti & Rok Spruk, 2023. "Economic effects of recent experiences of federalism: Analysis of the regionalization process in Spain," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 30-63, January.
    12. Lynham, John & Noy, Ilan & Page, Jonathan, 2017. "The 1960 Tsunami in Hawaii: Long-Term Consequences of a Coastal Disaster," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 106-118.
    13. Pier Basaglia & Sophie M. Behr & Moritz A. Drupp, 2023. "De-Fueling Externalities: Causal Effects of Fuel Taxation and Mediating Mechanisms for Reducing Climate and Pollution Costs," CESifo Working Paper Series 10508, CESifo.
    14. Emery, Thomas & Mélon, Lela & Spruk, Rok, 2023. "Does e-procurement matter for economic growth? Subnational evidence from Australia," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 318-334.
    15. Klomp, Jeroen, 2020. "Do natural disasters affect monetary policy? A quasi-experiment of earthquakes," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    16. Margherita Russo & Francesco Pagliacci, 2016. "Socio-economic effects of an earthquake:does sub-regional counterfactual sampling matter in estimates? An empirical test on the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake," Department of Economics 0082, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    17. Horvath, Roman, 2021. "Natural catastrophes and financial depth: An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    18. Roman Horvath, 2020. "Natural Catastrophes and Financial Development: An Empirical Analysis," Working Papers IES 2020/14, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised May 2020.
    19. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin & Sanders, Mark & Schippers, Vincent & Steinwachs, Thomas, 2022. "The economic impact of weather anomalies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    20. Jeroen Klomp & John Sseruyange, 2021. "Earthquakes and Economic Outcomes: Does Central Bank Independence Matter?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 335-359, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    natural disaster; natural hazard; synthetic control; earthquake; economic development; nighttime light; Iran; Bam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • H84 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Disaster Aid
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10502. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.