IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/jechis/v79y2019i01p1-31_00.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Creative Destruction of Industries: Yokohama City in the Great Kanto Earthquake, 1923

Author

Listed:
  • Okazaki, Tetsuji
  • Okubo, Toshihiro
  • Strobl, Eric

Abstract

The Great Kanto Earthquake occurred on 1 September 1923 and inflicted serious damage on Yokohama City. About 90 percent of the factories in Yokohama City were burnt down or completely destroyed. However, these manufacturing industries appear to have swiftly recovered in the aftermath of the damage. This article investigates the role of creative destruction due to the Great Kanto Earthquake. Using firm-level data on capital (horsepower of motors) before and after the earthquake, we find substantial creative destruction, that is, upgrade of machine technology and/or survival of efficient firms. We find further collaborating evidence of this at the prefecture level.

Suggested Citation

  • Okazaki, Tetsuji & Okubo, Toshihiro & Strobl, Eric, 2019. "Creative Destruction of Industries: Yokohama City in the Great Kanto Earthquake, 1923," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(1), pages 1-31, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:79:y:2019:i:01:p:1-31_00
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022050718000748/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arimoto, Yutaka & Nakajima, Kentaro & Okazaki, Tetsuji, 2014. "Sources of productivity improvement in industrial clusters: The case of the prewar Japanese silk-reeling industry," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 27-41.
    2. Hallegatte, Stéphane & Ghil, Michael, 2008. "Natural disasters impacting a macroeconomic model with endogenous dynamics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 582-592, December.
    3. Andrea Leiter & Harald Oberhofer & Paul Raschky, 2009. "Creative Disasters? Flooding Effects on Capital, Labour and Productivity Within European Firms," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 43(3), pages 333-350, July.
    4. Matthew A. COLE & Robert J R ELLIOTT & Toshihiro OKUBO & 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).
    5. Flath, David, 2014. "The Japanese Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 3, number 9780198702405, Decembrie.
    6. Pereira, Alvaro S., 2009. "The Opportunity of a Disaster: The Economic Impact of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 466-499, June.
    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. Siodla, James, 2021. "Firms, fires, and firebreaks: The impact of the 1906 San Francisco disaster on business agglomeration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Mathias Hoffmann & Tetsuji Okazaki & Toshihiro Okubo, 2019. "Branch Banking and Regional Financial Markets: Evidence from Prewar Japan," CIGS Working Paper Series 19-001E, The Canon Institute for Global Studies.
    3. Hayato Kato & Toshihiro Okubo, 2022. "The Resilience of FDI to Natural Disasters Through Industrial Linkages," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(1), pages 177-225, May.
    4. Tatsuki Inoue, 2023. "Health Impacts of Public Pawnshops in Industrializing Tokyo," Papers 2305.09352, arXiv.org, revised May 2024.
    5. Bertinelli, Luisito & Mahé, Clotilde & Strobl, Eric, 2023. "Earthquakes and mental health," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Stefania Servalli & Massimo Sargiacomo, 2021. "Natural disasters and accounting: Which contributions form the past?," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 5-9.
    7. Avril, Pauline & Levieuge, Grégory & Turcu, Camelia, 2025. "Natural disasters and financial stress: can macroprudential regulation tame green swans?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    8. Zhou, Ziqiao & Zhang, Lin, 2021. "Destructive destruction or creative destruction? Unraveling the effects of tropical cyclones on economic growth," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 380-393.
    9. Bas, Maria & Paunov, Caroline, 2025. "Riders on the storm: How do firms navigate production and market conditions amid El Niño?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    10. Mikawa, Naoto, 2025. "Impact of the 2011 earthquake on the real estate market in Tokyo," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    11. Tetsuji Okazaki & Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2025. "Life Insurance, Natural Disasters, and Human Capital Investment: A Case of Early 20 th Century Japan," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1246, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    12. Kota Ogasawara, 2022. "Persistence of natural disasters on children's health: Evidence from the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1054-1082, November.
    13. Joel Huesler & Eric Strobl, 2025. "The creative–destructive force of hurricanes: evidence from technological adoption in colonial Jamaican sugar estates," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 19(1), pages 123-161, January.
    14. Alves, Pedro Jorge & Lima, Ricardo Carvalho de Andrade & Emanuel, Lucas, 2022. "Natural disasters and establishment performance: Evidence from the 2011 Rio de Janeiro Landslides," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    15. Tetsuji Okazaki & Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2020. "The Bright and Dark Side of Financial Support from Local and Central Banks after a Natural Disaster: Evidence from the Great Kanto Earthquake, 1923 Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2020-001, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    16. Jorge Campos-González, 2025. "Disasters and technological upgrading measured by changes in demand for ICT labour: estimating the impacts with text," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 121(1), pages 911-957, January.
    17. Preeya Mohan & Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2020. "Natural Disasters and Industrial Production Efficiency: Evidence from Prewar Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2020-006, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    18. Yutaro Izumi & Hiroyuki Nakata & Yasuyuki Sawada & Kunio Sekiguchi, 2024. "Building Business Resilience to Disasters," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1223, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.

    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. Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2021. "Natural disasters, firm survival, and growth: Evidence from the Ise Bay Typhoon, Japan," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 944-970, November.
    2. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Matsuura, Toshiyuki & Okubo, Fumihiro, 2015. "Firm-level impacts of natural disasters on production networks: Evidence from a flood in Thailand," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 244-259.
    3. Susana Ferreira, 2024. "Extreme Weather Events and Climate Change: Economic Impacts and Adaptation Policies," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 16(1), pages 207-231, October.
    4. Uchida, Hirofumi & Miyakawa, Daisuke & Hosono, Kaoru & Ono, Arito & Uchino, Taisuke & Uesugi, Iichiro, 2015. "Financial shocks, bankruptcy, and natural selection," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 123-135.
    5. Richard Fabling & Arthur Grimes & Levente Timar, 2014. "Natural Selection: Firm Performance Following the Canterbury Earthquakes," Working Papers 14_08, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    6. Oudom Hean & Nattanicha Chairassamee, 2021. "Household consumption expenditure in Thailand during the first COVID-19 lockdown," Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 28(2), pages 1-37, December.
    7. Tetsuji Okazaki & Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2020. "The Bright and Dark Side of Financial Support from Local and Central Banks after a Natural Disaster: Evidence from the Great Kanto Earthquake, 1923 Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2020-001, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    8. Holger Strulik & Timo Trimborn, 2019. "Natural Disasters and Macroeconomic Performance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 72(4), pages 1069-1098, April.
    9. Zhou, Ziqiao & Zhang, Lin, 2021. "Destructive destruction or creative destruction? Unraveling the effects of tropical cyclones on economic growth," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 380-393.
    10. F. Zhou & W.J.W. Botzen, 2017. "The Impact of Natural Disasters on Firm Growth in Vietnam:: Interaction with Financial Constraints," Working Papers 17-20, Utrecht School of Economics.
    11. Uchida, Hirofumi & Miyakawa, Daisuke & Hosono, Kaoru & Ono, Arito & Uchino, Taisuke & Uesugi, Iichiro, 2013. "Natural Disaster and Natural Selection," Working Paper Series 25, Center for Interfirm Network, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    12. Lé Mathias, 2022. "The adaptation of economies to climate change: lessons from the economic research [L’adaptation des économies au changement climatique : les enseignements tirés de la recherche économique]," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 239.
    13. Ranson, Matthew & Tarquinio, Lisa & Lew, Audrey, 2016. "Modeling the Impact of Climate Change on Extreme Weather Losses," National Center for Environmental Economics-NCEE Working Papers 280932, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
    14. Ilan Noy & Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2023. "The Japanese textile sector and the influenza pandemic of 1918–1920," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(5), pages 1192-1227, November.
    15. Tanaka, Kiyoyasu & Hashiguchi, Yoshihiro, 2015. "Agglomeration effects of informal sector: evidence from Cambodia," IDE Discussion Papers 495, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    16. Kaoru Hosono & Daisuke Miyakawa & Taisuke Uchino & Makoto Hazama & Arito Ono & Hirofumi Uchida & Iichiro Uesugi, 2016. "Natural Disasters, Damage To Banks, And Firm Investment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1335-1370, November.
    17. William Ginn, 2022. "Climate Disasters and the Macroeconomy: Does State-Dependence Matter? Evidence for the US," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 141-161, March.
    18. Maribel Jiménez Martínez & Mónica Jiménez Martínez & Rocío Romero-Jarén, 2020. "How resilient is the labour market against natural disaster? Evaluating the effects from the 2010 earthquake in Chile," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(2), pages 1481-1533, November.
    19. Strulik, Holger & Trimborn, Timo, 2014. "Natural disasters and macroeconomic performance: The role of residential investment," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 194 [rev.], University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    20. Edward B. Barbier, 2016. "The Protective Value of Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystem Services in a Wealth Accounting Framework," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(1), pages 37-58, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N95 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Asia including Middle East
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    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:cup:jechis:v:79:y:2019:i:01:p:1-31_00. 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: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/jeh .

    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.