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Hurricanes Revisited : Comparative Advantage as a Source of Heterogeneity

Author

Listed:
  • Martino Pelli

    (Département d'économique, Université de Sherbrooke)

  • Jeanne Tschopp

    (Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia)

Abstract

There is little consensus in the economic literature on the effects of hurricanes on economic growth. This paper argues that this mixed evidence may result from ignoring the potential for hurricanes to generate heterogeneous impacts within countries. To test this hypothesis, we take advantage of highly disaggregated manufacturing export data over the period 1995- 2005 to examine whether the effect of hurricanes on the pattern of trade depends on productcountry- specific comparative advantage. Using a triple-difference identification strategy, we show evidence of heterogeneous effects: product lines with lower comparative advantage suffer disproportionately more.

Suggested Citation

  • Martino Pelli & Jeanne Tschopp, 2014. "Hurricanes Revisited : Comparative Advantage as a Source of Heterogeneity," Cahiers de recherche 14-09, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    • Handle: RePEc:shr:wpaper:14-09
    as

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    File URL: http://gredi.recherche.usherbrooke.ca/wpapers/GREDI-1409.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    hurricanes; comparative advantage; trade;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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