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Government Repression and the Death Toll from Natural Disasters

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  • Samia Costa

Abstract

Natural disasters have been a major cause of human suffering. Countries with higher income, lower inequality, lower corruption, and more democratic regimes have been found to experience less casualties from disasters. Government repression, however, could also play a role in disaster preparedness. In particular, I examine whether governments that are deemed to be human rights violators, which may not expect to receive assistance, experience lower casualties due perhaps to greater investment in disaster preparedness. I find an inverse U-shaped relationship between repression and casualties, with countries at either end of the distribution experiencing lower fatalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Samia Costa, 2012. "Government Repression and the Death Toll from Natural Disasters," CESifo Working Paper Series 3703, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_3703
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2009. "Repression or Civil War?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 292-297, May.
    2. Monica Escaleras & Nejat Anbarci & Charles Register, 2007. "Public sector corruption and major earthquakes: A potentially deadly interaction," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 209-230, July.
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    4. Toya, Hideki & Skidmore, Mark, 2007. "Economic development and the impacts of natural disasters," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 20-25, January.
    5. Anbarci, Nejat & Escaleras, Monica & Register, Charles A., 2005. "Earthquake fatalities: the interaction of nature and political economy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1907-1933, September.
    6. Kellenberg, Derek K. & Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq, 2008. "Does rising income increase or decrease damage risk from natural disasters?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 788-802, May.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    natural disasters; government repression; disaster preparedness; human rights;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • O00 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - General - - - General
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid

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