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Public Sector Corruption and Natural Disasters: A Potentially Deadly Interaction

Author

Listed:
  • Monica Escaleras

    (Department of Economics, Florida Atlantic University)

  • Nejat Anbarci

    (Department of Economics, Florida International University)

  • Charles Register

    (Department of Economics, Florida Atlantic University)

Abstract

A number of recent studies have, separately, addressed the effects of public sector corruption and natural disasters. In this paper, we intersect these lines of research to assess whether corruption in the public sector plays a role in the havoc wrought by large scale natural disasters, using major earthquakes as the example. We first develop a brief theoretical model of the relation between these two variables and then empirically test the proposition by analyzing 344 major quakes occurring in 42 countries during the 1975 through 2003 period. We use a Negative Binomial estimation strategy that takes into account the endogenous nature of corruption and controls for a number of other factors such as earthquake frequency, magnitude, distance from population centers, and a country’s level of development which have been shown to influence a quake’s destructiveness. The results provide strong evidence that public sector corruption is both positively and significantly related to the death toll a given earthquake takes on a population.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Escaleras & Nejat Anbarci & Charles Register, 2006. "Public Sector Corruption and Natural Disasters: A Potentially Deadly Interaction," Working Papers 06005, Department of Economics, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University, revised Aug 2006.
    • Handle: RePEc:fal:wpaper:06005
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    File URL: http://home.fau.edu/mescaler/web/working%20papers/quakecor8.30.06.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Miao, Qing & Popp, David, 2014. "Necessity as the mother of invention: Innovative responses to natural disasters," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 280-295.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Earthquake fatalities; corruption; institutional variables;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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