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Are Natural Disasters Good for Economic Growth?

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  • Ahlerup, Pelle

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

Abstract

Natural disasters plague the populations of many countries, and the international community often seeks to alleviate the human suffering by means of humanitarian aid. Do natural disasters also have negative effects on aggregate economic growth? This paper shows that natural disasters on average have a positive association with subsequent economic performance. This overall positive association is driven by the experience of democratic developing countries that receive humanitarian aid.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahlerup, Pelle, 2013. "Are Natural Disasters Good for Economic Growth?," Working Papers in Economics 553, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0553
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/32311
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Natural disasters and economic growth
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-03-25 19:23:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Testa, Patrick A., 2021. "Shocks and the spatial distribution of economic activity: The role of institutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 791-810.
    2. Peter A. G. van Bergeijk & Sara Lazzaroni, 2015. "Macroeconomics of Natural Disasters: Strengths and Weaknesses of Meta‐Analysis Versus Review of Literature," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(6), pages 1050-1072, June.
    3. 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.
    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. Elliott, Robert J.R. & Liu, Yi & Strobl, Eric & Tong, Meng, 2019. "Estimating the direct and indirect impact of typhoons on plant performance: Evidence from Chinese manufacturers," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    6. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, 2019. "Acts of God? Religiosity and Natural Disasters Across Subnational World Districts," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(622), pages 2295-2321.
    7. Chaiechi, Taha, 2014. "The broken window: Fallacy or fact – A Kaleckian–Post Keynesian approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 195-203.
    8. Matteo Coronese & Federico Crippa & Francesco Lamperti & Francesca Chiaromonte & Andrea Roventini, 2023. "Raided by the storm: how three decades of thunderstorms shaped U.S. incomes and wages," LEM Papers Series 2023/40, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    9. Adjei-Mantey, Kwame & Adusah-Poku, Frank, 2019. "Natural disasters and economic growth in Africa," MPRA Paper 95588, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Matthew A. COLE & Robert J R ELLIOTT & OKUBO Toshihiro & Eric STROBL, 2013. "Natural Disasters and Plant Survival: The impact of the Kobe earthquake," Discussion papers 13063, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    11. Matthew A. COLE & Robert J R ELLIOTT & OKUBO Toshihiro & Eric STROBL, 2015. "Natural Disasters, Industrial Clusters and Manufacturing Plant Survival," Discussion papers 15008, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    12. Ahlerup, Pelle, 2013. "Natural Disasters and Government Turnover," Working Papers in Economics 554, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    13. Yashobanta Parida & Swati Saini & Joyita Roy Chowdhury, 2021. "Economic growth in the aftermath of floods in Indian states," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 535-561, January.
    14. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J R Elliott & Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2014. "Natural Disasters and the Birth, Life and Death of Plants: The Case of the Kobe Earthquake," Working Papers 2014-114, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    natural disasters; economic growth; humanitarian aid.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H84 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Disaster Aid
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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