IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v85y2013icp105-115.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The fiscal implications of hurricane strikes in the Caribbean

Author

Listed:
  • Ouattara, Bazoumana
  • Strobl, Eric

Abstract

This paper empirically traces the fiscal impacts of hurricane strikes. To this end, a hurricane damage index is derived from a physical wind field model for a panel of Caribbean countries over 36years. Results, based on panel VAR and impulse response functions analysis, show that, overall, hurricane strikes exert a short-term impact. Indeed, the study finds that the response of government spending is positive and significant while public investment, debt and tax revenue do not appear to respond (significantly) to hurricane strikes. Moreover, the study finds that Governments respond to hurricane strikes by engaging in short term deficit financing.

Suggested Citation

  • Ouattara, Bazoumana & Strobl, Eric, 2013. "The fiscal implications of hurricane strikes in the Caribbean," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 105-115.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:85:y:2013:i:c:p:105-115
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.10.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800912003801
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.10.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stéphane Hallegatte & Valentin Przyluski, 2010. "The Economics of Natural Disasters," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 11(02), pages 14-24, July.
    2. Kerry Emanuel, 2005. "Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years," Nature, Nature, vol. 436(7051), pages 686-688, August.
    3. Rappaport, Jordan & Sachs, Jeffrey D, 2003. "The United States as a Coastal Nation," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 5-46, March.
    4. Noy, Ilan, 2009. "The macroeconomic consequences of disasters," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 221-231, March.
    5. Eric Strobl, 2011. "The Economic Growth Impact of Hurricanes: Evidence from U.S. Coastal Counties," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 575-589, May.
    6. Lis, Eliza & Nickel, Christiane, 2009. "The impact of extreme weather events on budget balances and implications for fiscal policy," Working Paper Series 1055, European Central Bank.
    7. Noy, Ilan & Nualsri, Aekkanush, 2011. "Fiscal storms: public spending and revenues in the aftermath of natural disasters," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 113-128, February.
    8. Eduardo Cavallo & Sebastian Galiani & Ilan Noy & Juan Pantano, 2013. "Catastrophic Natural Disasters and Economic Growth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1549-1561, December.
    9. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    10. 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.
    11. Maddala, G S & Wu, Shaowen, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(0), pages 631-652, Special I.
    12. Mechler, Reinhard & Hochrainer, Stefan & Pflug, Georg & Lotsch, Alexander & Williges, Keith, 2010. "Assessing the financial vulnerability to climate-related natural hazards," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5232, The World Bank.
    13. 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.
    14. Strobl, Eric, 2012. "The economic growth impact of natural disasters in developing countries: Evidence from hurricane strikes in the Central American and Caribbean regions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 130-141.
    15. Melecky, Martin & Raddatz, Claudio, 2011. "How do governments respond after catastrophes ? natural-disaster shocks and the fiscal stance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5564, The World Bank.
    16. 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.
    17. World Bank, 2001. "Kyrgyz Republic : Fiscal Sustainability Study," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14031, December.
    18. Hochrainer, Stefan, 2009. "Assessing the macroeconomic impacts of natural disasters : are there any ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4968, The World Bank.
    19. William D. Nordhaus, 2006. "The Economics of Hurricanes in the United States," NBER Working Papers 12813, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Eduardo Cavallo & Sebastian Galiani & Ilan Noy & Juan Pantano, 2013. "Catastrophic Natural Disasters and Economic Growth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1549-1561, December.
    21. Hallegatte, Stephane & Przyluski, Valentin, 2010. "The economics of natural disasters : concepts and methods," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5507, The World Bank.
    22. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    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. Ilan Noy & Christopher Edmonds, 2019. "Increasing fiscal resilience to disasters in the Pacific," 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. 97(3), pages 1375-1393, July.
    2. Qing Miao & Michael Abrigo & Yilin Hou & Yanjun (Penny) Liao, 2023. "Extreme Weather Events and Local Fiscal Responses: Evidence from U.S. Counties," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 93-115, March.
    3. Jerch, Rhiannon & Kahn, Matthew E. & Lin, Gary C., 2023. "Local public finance dynamics and hurricane shocks," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler & Qinhan Zhu & Alessio Ciullo & Jonas Peisker & Bart Hurk, 2023. "Differential Fiscal Performances of Plausible Disaster Events: A Storyline Approach for the Caribbean and Central American Governments under CCRIF," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 209-229, July.
    5. Gabriel Bachner & Birgit Bednar-Friedl & Nina Knittel, 2019. "How does climate change adaptation affect public budgets? Development of an assessment framework and a demonstration for Austria," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 1325-1341, October.
    6. Klomp, Jeroen, 2017. "Flooded with debt," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA), pages 93-103.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Olivier R de Bandt & Luc Jacolin & Thibault Lemaire, 2021. "Climate Change in Developing Countries: Global Warming Effects, Transmission Channels and Adaptation Policies," Working Papers hal-03948704, HAL.
    10. Ilan Noy & Christopher Edmonds, 2016. "The Economic and Fiscal Burdens of Disasters in the Pacific," CESifo Working Paper Series 6237, CESifo.
    11. Simo Leppänen & Laura Solanko & Riitta Kosonen, 2017. "The Impact of Climate Change on Regional Government Expenditures: Evidence from Russia," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(1), pages 67-92, May.
    12. Alessio Ciullo & Eric Strobl & Simona Meiler & Olivia Martius & David N. Bresch, 2022. "Increasing countries financial resilience through global catastrophe risk pooling," Papers 2206.13895, arXiv.org.
    13. Kunze, Sven, 2020. "Unraveling the effects of tropical cyclones on economic sectors worldwide," Working Papers 0685, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    14. Sungyoon Lee & Jennifer Dodge & Gang Chen, 2022. "The cost of social vulnerability: an integrative conceptual framework and model for assessing financial risks in natural disaster management," 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. 114(1), pages 691-712, October.
    15. Leppänen, Simo & Solanko, Laura & Kosonen, Riitta, 2015. "Could climate change affect government expenditures? Early evidence from the Russian regions," BOFIT Discussion Papers 27/2015, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    16. repec:zbw:bofitp:2015_027 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Christopher Burgess & Michael Taylor & Tannecia Stephenson & Arpita Mandal & Leiska Powell, 2015. "A macro-scale flood risk model for Jamaica with impact of climate variability," 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. 78(1), pages 231-256, August.
    18. Christian Unterberger, 2018. "How Flood Damages to Public Infrastructure Affect Municipal Budget Indicators," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 5-20, April.
    19. Ilan Noy & Christopher Edmonds, 2016. "The Economic and Fiscal Burdens of Disasters in the Pacific," CESifo Working Paper Series 6237, CESifo.
    20. Preeya Mohan & Eric Strobl, 2021. "The impact of tropical storms on tax revenue," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 472-489, April.
    21. Preeya Mohan & Eric Strobl, 2021. "The impact of tropical storms on the accumulation and composition of government debt," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(3), pages 483-496, June.
    22. Sven Kunze, 2021. "Unraveling the Effects of Tropical Cyclones on Economic Sectors Worldwide: Direct and Indirect Impacts," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(4), pages 545-569, April.
    23. Mark Edem Kunawotor & Godfred Alufar Bokpin & Patrick O. Asuming & Kofi A. Amoateng, 2022. "The implications of climate change and extreme weather events for fiscal balance and fiscal policy in Africa," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(2), pages 470-492, December.

    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. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin, 2014. "Naturally negative: The growth effects of natural disasters," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 92-106.
    2. Kousky, Carolyn, 2012. "Informing Climate Adaptation: A Review of the Economic Costs of Natural Disasters, Their Determinants, and Risk Reduction Options," RFF Working Paper Series dp-12-28, Resources for the Future.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Kousky, Carolyn, 2014. "Informing climate adaptation: A review of the economic costs of natural disasters," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 576-592.
    8. Thomas Steinwachs, 2019. "Geography Matters: Spatial Dimensions of Trade, Migration and Growth," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 81.
    9. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin & Sanders, Mark & Schippers, Vincent & Steinwachs, Thomas, 2018. "Shedding Light on the Spatial Diffusion of Disasters," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181556, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. 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).
    11. Nadia Benali & Mounir Ben Mbarek & Rochdi Feki, 2019. "Natural Disaster, Government Revenues and Expenditures: Evidence from High and Middle-Income Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(2), pages 695-710, June.
    12. Eduardo Cavallo & Ilan Noy, 2009. "The Economics of Natural Disasters: A Survey," Research Department Publications 4649, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    13. Weonho Yang & Jan Fidrmuc & Sugata Ghosh, 2012. "Government Spending Shocks and the Multiplier: New Evidence from the U.S. Based on Natural Disasters," CESifo Working Paper Series 4005, CESifo.
    14. Idriss Fontaine & Sabine Garabedian & David Nortes-Martinez & Helene Veremes, 2021. "Tropical Cyclones And Fertility : New Evidence From Madagascar," TEPP Working Paper 2021-02, TEPP.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. Fujin Zhou & Wouter Botzen, 2021. "Firm Level Evidence of Disaster Impacts on Growth in Vietnam," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 79(2), pages 277-322, June.
    18. Dieppe,Alistair Matthew & Kilic Celik,Sinem & Okou,Cedric Iltis Finafa, 2020. "Implications of Major Adverse Events on Productivity," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9411, The World Bank.
    19. Ruohan Wu, 2023. "Natural disasters, climate change, and structural transformation: A new perspective from international trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 1333-1377, May.
    20. Matteo Coronese & Davide Luzzati, 2022. "Economic impacts of natural hazards and complexity science: a critical review," LEM Papers Series 2022/13, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

    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:eee:ecolec:v:85:y:2013:i:c:p:105-115. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    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.