IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/10084.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Natural Disasters and Economic Dynamics : Evidence from the Kerala Floods

Author

Listed:
  • Beyer,Robert Carl Michael
  • Narayanan,Abhinav
  • Thakur,Gogol Mitra

Abstract

Exceptionally high rainfall in the Indian state of Kerala caused major flooding in 2018. Thispaper estimates the short-run causal impact of the disaster on the economy, using a difference-in-difference approach.Monthly nighttime light intensity, a proxy for aggregate economic activity, suggests that activity declined for threemonths during the disaster but boomed subsequently. Automated teller machine transactions, a proxy for consumerdemand, declined and credit disbursal increased, with households borrowing more for housing and less forconsumption. In line with other results, both household income and expenditure declined during the floods. Despite astrong wage recovery after the floods, spending remained lower relative to the unaffected districts. The paper arguesthat increased labor demand due to reconstruction efforts increased wages after the floods and provides corroboratingevidence: (i) rural labor markets tightened, (ii) poorer households benefited more, and (iii) wages increased mostwhere government relief was strongest. The findings confirm the presence of interesting economic dynamics during andright after natural disasters that remain in the shadow when analyzed with annual data.

Suggested Citation

  • Beyer,Robert Carl Michael & Narayanan,Abhinav & Thakur,Gogol Mitra, 2022. "Natural Disasters and Economic Dynamics : Evidence from the Kerala Floods," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10084, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10084
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099822206132239289/pdf/IDU0beef79560a37d04887082fb008ee88012ac5.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sushenjit Bandyopadhyay & Emmanuel Skoufias, 2015. "Rainfall variability, occupational choice, and welfare in rural Bangladesh," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 589-634, September.
    2. Coffman, Makena & Noy, Ilan, 2012. "Hurricane Iniki: measuring the long-term economic impact of a natural disaster using synthetic control," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 187-205, April.
    3. Mottaleb, Khondoker Abdul & Mohanty, Samarendu & Hoang, Hoa Thi Khanh & Rejesus, Roderick M., 2013. "The effects of natural disasters on farm household income and expenditures: A study on rice farmers in Bangladesh," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 43-52.
    4. Christopher Udry, 1994. "Risk and Insurance in a Rural Credit Market: An Empirical Investigation in Northern Nigeria," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(3), pages 495-526.
    5. Yasuyuki Sawada & Satoshi Shimizutani, 2008. "How Do People Cope with Natural Disasters? Evidence from the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake in 1995," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(2-3), pages 463-488, March.
    6. Loayza, Norman V. & Olaberría, Eduardo & Rigolini, Jamele & Christiaensen, Luc, 2012. "Natural Disasters and Growth: Going Beyond the Averages," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1317-1336.
    7. Gibson, John & Olivia, Susan & Boe-Gibson, Geua & Li, Chao, 2021. "Which night lights data should we use in economics, and where?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Heger, Martin Philipp & Neumayer, Eric, 2019. "The impact of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Aceh’s long-term economic growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. Dave Donaldson & Adam Storeygard, 2016. "The View from Above: Applications of Satellite Data in Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 171-198, Fall.
    10. Kurosaki, Takashi, 2015. "Vulnerability of household consumption to floods and droughts in developing countries: evidence from Pakistan," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 209-235, April.
    11. Raddatz, Claudio, 2007. "Are external shocks responsible for the instability of output in low-income countries?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 155-187, September.
    12. Paxson, Christina H, 1992. "Using Weather Variability to Estimate the Response of Savings to Transitory Income in Thailand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 15-33, March.
    13. Patnaik, Ila & Sane, Renuka & Shah, Ajay, 2019. "Chennai 2015: A novel approach to measuring the impact of a natural disaster," Working Papers 19/285, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    14. Hochrainer, Stefan, 2009. "Assessing the macroeconomic impacts of natural disasters : are there any ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4968, The World Bank.
    15. Solomon M. Hsiang & Amir S. Jina, 2014. "The Causal Effect of Environmental Catastrophe on Long-Run Economic Growth: Evidence From 6,700 Cyclones," NBER Working Papers 20352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Albala-Bertrand, J. M., 1993. "Political Economy of Large Natural Disasters: With Special Reference to Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287650.
    17. Anh Tuan Bui & Mardi Dungey & Cuong Viet Nguyen & Thu Phuong Pham, 2014. "The impact of natural disasters on household income, expenditure, poverty and inequality: evidence from Vietnam," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(15), pages 1751-1766, May.
    18. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin & Sanders, Mark & Schippers, Vincent & Steinwachs, Thomas, 2022. "The economic impact of weather anomalies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    19. Martin Heger & Alex Julca & Oliver Paddison, 2008. "Analysing the Impact of Natural Hazards in Small Economies: The Caribbean Case," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2008-25, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Beyer, Robert C.M. & Franco-Bedoya, Sebastian & Galdo, Virgilio, 2021. "Examining the economic impact of COVID-19 in India through daily electricity consumption and nighttime light intensity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    21. Justin Gallagher & Daniel Hartley, 2017. "Household Finance after a Natural Disaster: The Case of Hurricane Katrina," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 199-228, August.
    22. M. K. Roxy & Subimal Ghosh & Amey Pathak & R. Athulya & Milind Mujumdar & Raghu Murtugudde & Pascal Terray & M. Rajeevan, 2017. "A threefold rise in widespread extreme rain events over central India," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    23. Lohmann, Steffen & Lechtenfeld, Tobias, 2015. "The Effect of Drought on Health Outcomes and Health Expenditures in Rural Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 432-448.
    24. Ilan Noy & Aekkanush Nualsri, 2007. "What do Exogenous Shocks Tell Us about Growth Theories?," Working Papers 200728, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    25. Mark Skidmore & Hideki Toya, 2002. "Do Natural Disasters Promote Long-Run Growth?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(4), pages 664-687, October.
    26. Christian R. Jaramillo H., 2009. "Do Natural Disasters Have Long-term Effects on Growth?," Documentos CEDE 6647, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arshad, Selvia & Beyer, Robert C.M., 2023. "Tracking economic fluctuations with electricity consumption in Bangladesh," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

    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. Brei, Michael & Mohan, Preeya & Strobl, Eric, 2019. "The impact of natural disasters on the banking sector: Evidence from hurricane strikes in the Caribbean," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 232-239.
    2. Eduardo Cavallo & Ilan Noy, 2009. "The Economics of Natural Disasters - A Survey," Working Papers 200919, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    3. Michael Berlemann & Max Steinhardt & Jascha Tutt, 2015. "Do Natural Disasters Stimulate Individual Saving? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in a Highly Developed Country," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 763, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Lazzaroni, Sara & van Bergeijk, Peter A.G., 2014. "Natural disasters' impact, factors of resilience and development: A meta-analysis of the macroeconomic literature," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 333-346.
    5. Rémi Generoso, 2012. "Transferts de fonds et résilience des pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest face à la variabilité des précipitations : une perspective macroéconomique," Working Papers hal-00830021, HAL.
    6. Hallegatte, Stephane, 2012. "Modeling the roles of heterogeneity, substitution, and inventories in the assessment of natural disaster economic costs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6047, The World Bank.
    7. Ercio Muñoz S. & Alfredo Pistelli M., 2010. "¿Tienen los Terremotos un Impacto Inflacionario en el Corto Plazo? Evidencia para una Muestra de Países," Notas de Investigación Journal Economía Chilena (The Chilean Economy), Central Bank of Chile, vol. 13(2), pages 113-127, April.
    8. Matthew Ranson & Lisa Tarquinio & Audrey Lew, 2016. "Modeling the Impact of Climate Change on Extreme Weather Losses," NCEE Working Paper Series 201602, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised May 2016.
    9. Zeb Aurangzeb & Thanasis Stengos, 2012. "Economic Policies and the Impact of Natural Disasters on Economic Growth: A Threshold Regression Approach," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(1), pages 229-241.
    10. Vikrant Panwar & Subir Sen, 2019. "Economic Impact of Natural Disasters: An Empirical Re-examination," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 13(1), pages 109-139, February.
    11. Wenzel, Lars & Wolf, André, 2013. "Protection against major catastrophes: An economic perspective," HWWI Research Papers 137, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    12. Loayza, Norman V. & Olaberría, Eduardo & Rigolini, Jamele & Christiaensen, Luc, 2012. "Natural Disasters and Growth: Going Beyond the Averages," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1317-1336.
    13. Mohan, Preeya S. & Ouattara, Bazoumana & Strobl, Eric, 2018. "Decomposing the Macroeconomic Effects of Natural Disasters: A National Income Accounting Perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1-9.
    14. Eric Nazindigouba Kere & Somlanaré Romuald Kinda & Rasmané Ouedraogo, 2015. "Do Natural Disasters Hurt Tax Resource Mobilization?," CERDI Working papers halshs-01242968, HAL.
    15. Johanna Choumert-Nkolo & Anaïs Lamour & Pascale Phélinas, 2021. "The Economics of Volcanoes," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 277-299, July.
    16. Thomas K.J. McDermott & Frank Barry & Richard S.J. Tol, 2014. "Disasters and development: natural disasters, credit constraints, and economic growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 750-773.
    17. Suman K SHARMA, 2010. "Socio-Economic Aspects of Disaster’s Impact: An Assessment of Databases and Methodologies," Economic Growth Centre Working Paper Series 1001, Nanyang Technological University, School of Social Sciences, Economic Growth Centre.
    18. Jha, Shikha & Quising, Pilipinas & Ardaniel, Zemma & Martinez, Jr., Arturo & Wang, Limin, 2018. "Natural Disasters, Public Spending, and Creative Destruction: A Case Study of the Philippines," ADBI Working Papers 817, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    19. Kevin Luo & Tomoko Kinugasa, 2018. "Do natural disasters influence long-term saving?: Assessing the impact of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake on household saving rates using synthetic control," Discussion Papers 1804, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    20. van Bergeijk, P.A.G. & Lazzaroni, S., 2013. "Macroeconomics of natural disasters," ISS Working Papers - General Series 50075, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • R22 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Other Demand
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth

    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:wbk:wbrwps:10084. 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: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.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.