IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ediscc/v1y2017i1d10.1007_s41885-017-0002-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Natural Disasters on Financial Development

Author

Listed:
  • Subhani Keerthiratne

    (University of Sussex
    Central Bank of Sri Lanka)

  • Richard S. J. Tol

    (University of Sussex
    Vrije Universiteit
    Vrije Universiteit
    Tinbergen Institute)

Abstract

We estimate the impact of natural disasters on financial development proxied by private credit. We employ a panel fixed effects estimator as our main estimation tool on a country level panel data set of natural disasters and other economic indicators covering 147 countries for the period from 1979 to 2011. We find that companies and households get deeper into debt after a natural disaster. This effect is stronger in poorer countries whilst the effect is weaker in countries where agriculture is more important. The magnitude of per capita credit varies across countries regardless of their per capita income. Hence, the real impact of disasters on credit as a share of prevailing per capita credit is country specific as well as time specific. Our findings are robust to alternative estimators, specifications, samples and data. Private credit is only one dimension of financial development and financial markets are less well developed in poor countries which are more vulnerable to disasters. Thus, the immediate impact of natural disasters is better interpreted as households getting (further) into debt rather than as financial development, but we find longer term impacts too that indicate an expansion of credit availability.

Suggested Citation

  • Subhani Keerthiratne & Richard S. J. Tol, 2017. "Impact of Natural Disasters on Financial Development," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 33-54, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ediscc:v:1:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s41885-017-0002-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s41885-017-0002-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41885-017-0002-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41885-017-0002-5?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. Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2015. "The Next Generation of the Penn World Table," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3150-3182, October.
    2. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    3. Thomas K.J. McDermott & Frank Barry & Richard S.J. Tol, 2014. "Disasters and development: natural disasters, credit constraints, and economic growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 750-773.
    4. Thomas Fomby & Yuki Ikeda & Norman V. Loayza, 2013. "The Growth Aftermath Of Natural Disasters," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 412-434, April.
    5. Cihak, Martin & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Feyen, Erik & Levine, Ross, 2013. "Financial Development in 205 Economies, 1960 to 2010," Journal of Financial Perspectives, EY Global FS Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 17-36.
    6. Noy, Ilan, 2009. "The macroeconomic consequences of disasters," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 221-231, March.
    7. Sen, Amartya, 1983. "Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198284635, Decembrie.
    8. Klomp, Jeroen, 2014. "Financial fragility and natural disasters: An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 180-192.
    9. Gignoux, Jérémie & Menéndez, Marta, 2016. "Benefit in the wake of disaster: Long-run effects of earthquakes on welfare in rural Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 26-44.
    10. Giuliano, Paola & Ruiz-Arranz, Marta, 2009. "Remittances, financial development, and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 144-152, September.
    11. Carter, Michael R. & Little, Peter D. & Mogues, Tewodaj & Negatu, Workneh, 2007. "Poverty Traps and Natural Disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 835-856, May.
    12. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    13. Cihak, Martin & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Feyen, Erik & Levine, Ross, 2012. "Benchmarking financial systems around the world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6175, The World Bank.
    14. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    15. Ramcharan, Rodney, 2007. "Does the exchange rate regime matter for real shocks? Evidence from windstorms and earthquakes," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 31-47, September.
    16. Toya, Hideki & Skidmore, Mark, 2007. "Economic development and the impacts of natural disasters," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 20-25, January.
    17. Oscar Becerra & Eduardo Cavallo & Ilan Noy, 2014. "Foreign Aid in the Aftermath of Large Natural Disasters," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 445-460, August.
    18. Plümper, Thomas & Neumayer, Eric, 2010. "The Level of Democracy during Interregnum Periods: Recoding the polity2 Score," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 206-226, April.
    19. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin, 2014. "Naturally negative: The growth effects of natural disasters," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 92-106.
    20. Martin Gassebner & Alexander Keck & Robert Teh, 2010. "Shaken, Not Stirred: The Impact of Disasters on International Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 351-368, May.
    21. 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.
    22. 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.
    23. 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.
    24. Jamie Sanderson & Sardar M. N. Islam, 2007. "Climate Change and Economic Development," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-59012-0, December.
    25. Miao, Qing & Popp, David, 2014. "Necessity as the mother of invention: Innovative responses to natural disasters," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 280-295.
    26. Skidmore, Mark, 2001. "Risk, natural disasters, and household savings in a life cycle model," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 15-34, January.
    27. Goetz von Peter & Sebastian von Dahlen & Sweta C Saxena, 2012. "Unmitigated disasters? New evidence on the macroeconomic cost of natural catastrophes," BIS Working Papers 394, Bank for International Settlements.
    28. Jérémie Gignoux & Marta Menéndez, 2016. "Benefit in the wake of disaster: Long-run effects of earthquakes on welfare in rural Indonesia," Post-Print halshs-01245544, HAL.
    29. Cavallo, Eduardo & Noy, Ilan, 2011. "Natural Disasters and the Economy — A Survey," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 5(1), pages 63-102, May.
    30. Albala-Bertrand, J. M., 1993. "Political Economy of Large Natural Disasters: With Special Reference to Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287650, Decembrie.
    31. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    32. Nelson, Charles R. & Plosser, Charles I., 1982. "Trends and random walks in macroeconmic time series : Some evidence and implications," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 139-162.
    33. Kellenberg, Derek K. & Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq, 2008. "Does rising income increase or decrease damage risk from natural disasters?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 788-802, May.
    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. Khan, Muhammad Tariq Iqbal & Anwar, Sofia, 2022. "Natural disasters and foreign exchange reserves: The role of renewable energy and human capital," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 838-848.
    2. Ruble, Isabella, 2017. "European Union energy supply security: The benefits of natural gas imports from the Eastern Mediterranean," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 341-353.
    3. Ilan Noy & Shunsuke Managi & Stephane Hallegatte, 2018. "Economics of Disasters and Climate Change – The Journal’s First Year," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-3, April.
    4. Beniamino Callegari & Christophe Feder, 2022. "A Literature Review of Pandemics and Development: the Long-Term Perspective," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 183-212, March.
    5. Weerasekara, Sajeevani & Wilson, Clevo & Lee, Boon & Hoang, Viet-Ngu & Managi, Shunsuke & Rajapaksa, Darshana, 2021. "The impacts of climate induced disasters on the economy: Winners and losers in Sri Lanka," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    6. Brei, Michael & Mohan, Preeya & Strobl, Eric, 2019. "The impact of natural disasters on the banking sector: Evidence from hurricane strikes in the Caribbean," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 232-239.
    7. Xia Chen & Chun-Ping Chang, 2021. "The shocks of natural hazards on financial systems," 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. 105(3), pages 2327-2359, February.
    8. Richard S. J. Tol, 2021. "The Economic Impact of Climate in the Long Run," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Anil Markandya & Dirk Rübbelke (ed.), CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT, chapter 1, pages 3-36, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Rashid Khan, Haroon Ur & Islam, Talat & Yousaf, Sheikh Usman & Zaman, Khalid & Shoukry, Alaa Mohamd & Sharkawy, Mohamed A. & Gani, Showkat & Aamir, Alamzeb & Hishan, Sanil S., 2019. "The impact of financial development indicators on natural resource markets: Evidence from two-step GMM estimator," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 240-255.
    10. J. V. Rush, 2018. "The Impact of Natural Disasters on Education in Indonesia," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 137-158, July.
    11. Keerthiratne, Subhani & Tol, Richard S.J., 2018. "Impact of natural disasters on income inequality in Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 217-230.
    12. Christian-Lambert Lambert Nguena & Prince Piva Asaloko, 2023. "Financial inclusion, growth and poverty: Evidence from Africa in COVID-19 era [Inclusion financière, croissance et pauvreté à l'ère de la Covid-19 en Afrique]," Post-Print hal-04150097, HAL.
    13. 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.
    14. Oscar Zapata, 2018. "Turning to God in Tough Times? Human Versus Material Losses from Climate Disasters in Canada," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 259-281, October.
    15. Chen, Xia & Zhao, Xinxin & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2023. "The shocks of natural disasters on NPLs: Global evidence," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(1).
    16. Christian Lambert NGUENA & Prince PIVA ASALOKO, 2023. "Financial inclusion, growth and poverty: Evidence from Africa in COVID-19 era," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 57, pages 81-100.
    17. Bayangos, Veronica B. & Cachuela, Rafael Augusto D. & Prado, Fatima Lourdes E. Del, 2021. "Impact of extreme weather episodes on the Philippine banking sector – Evidence using branch-level supervisory data," Latin American Journal of Central Banking (previously Monetaria), Elsevier, vol. 2(1).
    18. Subhani Keerthiratne & Richard S.J. Tol, 2018. "Foreign Aid Concentration and Natural Disasters," Working Paper Series 0218, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    19. Keenan, Rodney J. & Pozza, Greg & Fitzsimons, James A., 2019. "Ecosystem services in environmental policy: Barriers and opportunities for increased adoption," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Zhang, Dayong & Managi, Shunsuke, 2020. "Financial development, natural disasters, and economics of the Pacific small island states," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 168-181.

    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. Wendala Gamaralalage Subhani Sulochana Keerthiratne, 2017. "Economic impact of natural disasters," Economics PhD Theses 0617, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    2. Vikrant Panwar & Subir Sen, 2019. "Economic Impact of Natural Disasters: An Empirical Re-examination," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 13(1), pages 109-139, February.
    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. Klomp, Jeroen, 2020. "Do natural disasters affect monetary policy? A quasi-experiment of earthquakes," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Jeroen Klomp & John Sseruyange, 2021. "Earthquakes and Economic Outcomes: Does Central Bank Independence Matter?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 335-359, April.
    6. John Sseruyange & Jeroen Klomp, 2021. "Natural Disasters and Economic Growth: The Mitigating Role of Microfinance Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, April.
    7. 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.
    8. Mensah, Edouard R. & Filipski, Mateusz J., 2022. "Saving for a rainy day: the impact of natural disasters on savings rates," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322266, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Berlemann, Michael & Wenzel, Daniela, 2018. "Hurricanes, economic growth and transmission channels," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 231-247.
    10. 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.
    11. Hiroki Onuma & Kong Joo Shin & Shunsuke Managi, 2021. "Short-, Medium-, and Long-Term Growth Impacts of Catastrophic and Non-catastrophic Natural Disasters," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 53-70, April.
    12. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin, 2014. "Naturally negative: The growth effects of natural disasters," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 92-106.
    13. Thomas K.J. McDermott & Frank Barry & Richard S.J. Tol, 2014. "Disasters and development: natural disasters, credit constraints, and economic growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 750-773.
    14. 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.
    15. Quy Ta & Yothin Jinjarak & Ilan Noy, 2022. "“How Do Shocks Affect International Reserves? A Quasi-Experiment of Earthquakes”," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 33(5), pages 945-971, November.
    16. Thomas K.J. McDermott, "undated". "Disasters and Development: Natural Disasters, Credit Constraints and Economic Growth," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp363, IIIS.
    17. Klomp, Jeroen, 2014. "Financial fragility and natural disasters: An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 180-192.
    18. Keerthiratne, Subhani & Tol, Richard S.J., 2018. "Impact of natural disasters on income inequality in Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 217-230.
    19. Noy, Ilan & Vu, Tam Bang, 2010. "The economics of natural disasters in a developing country: The case of Vietnam," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 345-354, August.
    20. Brei, Michael & Mohan, Preeya & Strobl, Eric, 2019. "The impact of natural disasters on the banking sector: Evidence from hurricane strikes in the Caribbean," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 232-239.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Natural disasters; Economic impact; Financial development; Private credit;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • G00 - Financial Economics - - General - - - General
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

    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:spr:ediscc:v:1:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s41885-017-0002-5. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.