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Rising Waters, Falling Well-Being: The Effects of the 2013 East German Flood on Subjective Well-Being

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  • Sachintha Fernando
  • Katharina Kolb
  • Christoph Wunder

Abstract

This paper employs a panel event study design to examine the causal effects of the 2013 flood disaster in East Germany on subjective well-being. We merge geo-spatial flood data with longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to identify individuals in affected municipalities. Our results show that those affected by the flood report a significant life satisfaction drop of 0.17 points on an 11-point scale, which is equivalent to a 2.5% fall from pre-flood levels, in the year after the flood. The effect is more severe in peripheral areas than in central areas, and for low-income individuals than for high-income individuals. However, the effect dissipates by 2015. Additionally, we observe a notable initial decrease in health satisfaction, followed by recovery, while financial satisfaction was largely unaffected.

Suggested Citation

  • Sachintha Fernando & Katharina Kolb & Christoph Wunder, 2025. "Rising Waters, Falling Well-Being: The Effects of the 2013 East German Flood on Subjective Well-Being," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1224, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1224
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    File URL: https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.953254.de/diw_sp1224.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ahmadiani, Mona & Ferreira, Susana, 2021. "Well-being effects of extreme weather events in the United States," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    natural disasters; flood; quality of life; life satisfaction; health satisfaction; financial satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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