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Hurricanes, climate change, and social welfare: evidence from the Caribbean

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  • Nekeisha Spencer

    (University of the West Indies)

  • Eric Strobl

    (University of Bern)

Abstract

We examine whether Caribbean islands will be worse off as hurricane activity alters under climate change. To this end, we construct island level damages for synthetic storm tracks generated from four climate models under current and future climate settings. Using a flexible stochastic dominance preference ordering framework, we find that the fat-tailed and uncertain nature of the distribution of storms makes it difficult to conclude that the region will be worse off under climate change, and is likely to depend on the degree of adaptation.

Suggested Citation

  • Nekeisha Spencer & Eric Strobl, 2020. "Hurricanes, climate change, and social welfare: evidence from the Caribbean," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 337-357, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:163:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10584-020-02810-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-020-02810-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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