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The short-run, dynamic employment effects of natural disasters: New insights from Puerto Rico

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  • Barattieri, Alessandro
  • Borda, Patrice
  • Brugnoli, Alberto
  • Pelli, Martino
  • Tschopp, Jeanne

Abstract

We study the short-run, dynamic employment effects of natural disasters. We exploit monthly data for 70 3-digits NAICS industries and 78 Puerto Rican counties over the period 1995–2019. Our exogenous measure of exposure to natural disasters is computed using the maximum wind speed recorded in each county during each hurricane. Using panel local projections, we find that after the “average” hurricane, employment falls by 0.5% on average. Across industries, we find substantial heterogeneity in the employment responses. Employment increases in some industries while in others employment decreases after a hurricane. This heterogeneity can be partly explained by input–output linkages.

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  • Barattieri, Alessandro & Borda, Patrice & Brugnoli, Alberto & Pelli, Martino & Tschopp, Jeanne, 2023. "The short-run, dynamic employment effects of natural disasters: New insights from Puerto Rico," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:205:y:2023:i:c:s0921800922003548
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107693
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hurricanes; Employment; High-frequency data; Local projections;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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