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The Re-Building Effect of Hurricanes: Evidence from Employment in the US Construction Industry

Author

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  • Strobl, Eric

    (University of Bern)

  • Walsh, Frank

    (University College Dublin)

Abstract

We examine the impact of hurricane strikes on the construction industry in US counties. To this end we use a measure of hurricane destruction derived from a wind field model and historical hurricane track data and employ this within a dynamic labour demand framework. Our results show that destruction due to hurricanes causes on average an increase in country level employment in construction of a little over 25 per cent.

Suggested Citation

  • Strobl, Eric & Walsh, Frank, 2008. "The Re-Building Effect of Hurricanes: Evidence from Employment in the US Construction Industry," IZA Discussion Papers 3544, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3544
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kerry Emanuel, 2005. "Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years," Nature, Nature, vol. 436(7051), pages 686-688, August.
    2. 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.
    3. Pedro Portugal & José Varejão, 2007. "Spatial and Temporal Aggregation in the Estimation of Labor Demand Functions," Working Papers w200704, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    4. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 1993. "Labor Demand and the Source of Adjustment Costs," NBER Working Papers 4394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ariel R. Belasen & Solomon W. Polachek, 2009. "How Disasters Affect Local Labor Markets: The Effects of Hurricanes in Florida," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(1).
    6. 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.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ouattara, B. & Strobl, E., 2014. "Hurricane strikes and local migration in US coastal counties," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 17-20.
    2. Klaiber, H. Allen, 2014. "Migration and household adaptation to climate: A review of empirical research," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 539-547.
    3. Deryugina, Tatyana, 2011. "The Role of Transfer Payments in Mitigating Shocks: Evidence From the Impact of Hurricanes," MPRA Paper 53307, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Aug 2013.
    4. 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.
    5. Barattieri, Alessandro & Borda, Patrice & Brugnoli, Alberto & Pelli, Martino & Tschopp, Jeanne, 2023. "The short-run, dynamic employment effects of natural disasters: New insights from Puerto Rico," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Eric Strobl, 2020. "The Macroeconomic Impacts of Natural Disasters in the Caribbean," World Bank Publications - Reports 36406, The World Bank Group.
    8. Karen Fisher-Vanden & Ian Sue Wing & Elisa Lanzi & David Popp, 2013. "Modeling climate change feedbacks and adaptation responses: recent approaches and shortcomings," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 481-495, April.
    9. Mohammad Sanaei & Shinya Horie & Shunsuke Managi, 2016. "Job Opportunity And Ownership Status: Return Decision After The Great East Japan Earthquake And Tsunami," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 61(01), pages 1-16, March.

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    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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