[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iis/dispap/iiisdp391.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effects of Natural Disasters on Human Capital Accumulation

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas K.J. McDermott

    (School of Business and Institute for International Integration Studies, Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract
In this paper I investigate the effects of disasters on human capital accumulation using an extensive panel dataset on natural disasters, covering 170 countries over a 25 year period (1980-2004). My analysis shows that disasters have both a direct, contemporaneous effect and a long-term, indirect effect on human capital. While the direct effects - primarily related to injury, illness and death suffered as a result of the disaster - are relatively straightforward, the indirect effects will depend on household decision-making in the aftermath of the disaster. Treating human capital as a long-term investment decision, it is clear that access to finance is likely to be a crucial factor in household decisions about whether or not to invest in children's health and education. Indeed, my results show that aid flows are effective in mitigating the long-term impacts of disasters on health outcomes. However, for school enrollment rates, the longer-term effects of disasters are dependent on the availability of credit. These findings could have important policy implications. The indirect effects are unlikely to have been identified in previous analyses that focus on the short-term impacts of natural disasters. Given the importance of human capital in the process of economic development, the results presented here suggest that natural disasters represent a significant threat to the development prospects of relatively poor countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas K.J. McDermott, 2011. "The Effects of Natural Disasters on Human Capital Accumulation," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp391, IIIS, revised Feb 2012.
    • Handle: RePEc:iis:dispap:iiisdp391
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.tcd.ie/triss/assets/PDFs/iiis/iiisdp391.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2006. "Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 450-474, July.
    2. Lance J. Lochner & Alexander Monge-Naranjo, 2011. "The Nature of Credit Constraints and Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(6), pages 2487-2529, October.
    3. Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, 2010. "Natural Disasters and Human Capital Accumulation," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 24(2), pages 280-302, July.
    4. 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.
    5. Eduardo Cavallo & Ilan Noy, 2009. "The Economics of Natural Disasters: A Survey," Research Department Publications 4649, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    6. Dercon, Stefan, 2004. "Growth and shocks: evidence from rural Ethiopia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 309-329, August.
    7. Hanan G. Jacoby & Emmanuel Skoufias, 1997. "Risk, Financial Markets, and Human Capital in a Developing Country," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(3), pages 311-335.
    8. Jalan, Jyotsna & Ravallion, Martin, 2001. "Household income dynamics in rural China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2706, The World Bank.
    9. Flug, Karnit & Spilimbergo, Antonio & Wachtenheim, Erik, 1998. "Investment in education: do economic volatility and credit constraints matter?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 465-481, April.
    10. Ross Levine & Norman Loayza & Thorsten Beck, 2002. "Financial Intermediation and Growth: Causality and Causes," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Leonardo Hernández & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Se (ed.),Banking, Financial Integration, and International Crises, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 031-084, Central Bank of Chile.
    11. Raddatz, Claudio, 2009. "The wrath of God : macroeconomic costs of natural disasters," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5039, The World Bank.
    12. Loury, Glenn C, 1981. "Intergenerational Transfers and the Distribution of Earnings," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(4), pages 843-867, June.
    13. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    14. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    15. Taubman, Paul, 1989. "Role of Parental Income in Educational Attainment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 57-61, May.
    16. Masters, William A & McMillan, Margaret S, 2001. "Climate and Scale in Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 167-186, September.
    17. Lokshin, Michael & Ravallion, Martin, 2000. "Short-lived shocks with long-lived impacts? - household income dynamics in a transition economy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2459, The World Bank.
    18. 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.
    19. Baez, Javier E. & de la Fuente, Alejandro & Santos, Indhira, 2010. "Do Natural Disasters Affect Human Capital? An Assessment Based on Existing Empirical Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 5164, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Zimmerman, Frederick J. & Carter, Michael R., 2003. "Asset smoothing, consumption smoothing and the reproduction of inequality under risk and subsistence constraints," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 233-260, August.
    21. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1979. "An Equilibrium Theory of the Distribution of Income and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(6), pages 1153-1189, December.
    22. Barry, Frank, 1999. "Government Consumption and Private Investment in Closed and Open Economies," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 93-106, January.
    23. Eduardo Cavallo & Ilan Noy, 2009. "The Economics of Natural Disasters - A Survey," Working Papers 200919, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    24. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Jaypee Sevilla, 2001. "Economic Growth and the Demographic Transition," NBER Working Papers 8685, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Jacoby, Hanan G, 1994. "Borrowing Constraints and Progress through School: Evidence from Peru," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 151-160, February.
    26. Jeffrey Sachs & Pia Malaney, 2002. "The economic and social burden of malaria," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6872), pages 680-685, February.
    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. Alexandru Bănică & Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp, 2020. "Natural disasters as a development opportunity: a spatial economic resilience interpretation," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 40(2), pages 223-249, October.
    2. Shidiqi, Khalifany-Ash & Di Paolo, Antonio & Choi, Álvaro, 2023. "Earthquake exposure and schooling: Impacts and mechanisms," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Marina Murat & Luca Bonacini, 2020. "Coronavirus pandemic, remote learning and education inequalities," Department of Economics (DEMB) 0177, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Department of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    4. F. Zhou & W.J.W. Botzen, 2017. "The Impact of Natural Disasters on Firm Growth in Vietnam:: Interaction with Financial Constraints," Working Papers 17-20, Utrecht School of Economics.
    5. Mohammad Zahangeer Alam & Md Manjurul Haque & Mimi Talukdar & Md Moniruzzaman & Joan Halsey & Alex R Crump & Md Abdul Qayum & Hasan Mohammad Abdullah Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agroforestry , 2018. "Effect of Natural Disasters and their Coping Strategies in the Kuakata Coastal Belt of Patuakhali Bangladesh," International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 14(4), pages 105-119, September.
    6. Nadia Benali (a) and Rochdi Feki (b), 2020. "The Relationship between Natural Disasters, Education, ICT and Economic Growth:Empirical Evidence from ARDL Bounds Testing Approach," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 93-111, December.
    7. Wenzel, Lars & Wolf, André, 2013. "Protection against major catastrophes: An economic perspective," HWWI Research Papers 137, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    8. 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.

    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. 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.
    2. David Castells-Quintana & Maria del Pilar Lopez-Uribe & Tom McDermott, 2015. "Climate change and the geographical and institutional drivers of economic development," GRI Working Papers 198, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    3. Lopez-Uribe, Maria del Pilar & Castells-Quintana, David & McDermott, Thomas K. J., 2017. "Geography, institutions and development: a review ofthe long-run impacts of climate change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65147, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Stéphane Hallegatte & Adrien Vogt-Schilb & Julie Rozenberg & Mook Bangalore & Chloé Beaudet, 2020. "From Poverty to Disaster and Back: a Review of the Literature," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 223-247, April.
    5. 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.
    6. Berlemann, Michael & Wenzel, Daniela, 2018. "Hurricanes, economic growth and transmission channels," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 231-247.
    7. Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2009. "Finance and Inequality: Theory and Evidence," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 287-318, November.
    8. 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.
    9. Rafael Novella & Claire Zanuso, 2018. "Reallocating children’s time: coping strategies after the 2010 Haiti earthquake," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-32, December.
    10. Stephen C. Smith & Sungil Kwak, 2011. "Multidimensional Poverty and Interlocking Poverty Traps: Framework and Application to Ethiopian Household Panel Data," Working Papers 2011-04, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    11. 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.
    12. Anousheh Alamir & Tillmann Heidelk, 2020. "Natural Disasters and Education," Working Papers ECARES 2020-05, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    13. Hiroaki Ishiwata & Muneta Yokomatsu, 2018. "Dynamic Stochastic Macroeconomic Model of Disaster Risk Reduction Investment in Developing Countries," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(11), pages 2424-2440, November.
    14. Michael Berlemann & Daniela Wenzel, 2016. "Long-term Growth Effects of Natural Disasters - Empirical Evidence for Droughts," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(1), pages 464-476.
    15. William Ginn, 2022. "Climate Disasters and the Macroeconomy: Does State-Dependence Matter? Evidence for the US," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 141-161, March.
    16. Brian Piper, 2014. "Factor-Specific Productivity," Working Papers 1401, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    17. Francesco Porcelli & Riccardo Trezzi, 2019. "The impact of earthquakes on economic activity: evidence from Italy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1167-1206, April.
    18. Sweta Sen & Narayan Chandra Nayak & William Kumar Mohanty, 2023. "Impact of tropical cyclones on sustainable development through loops and cycles: evidence from select developing countries of Asia," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(5), pages 2467-2498, November.
    19. Valeria Groppo & Kati Kraehnert, 2017. "The impact of extreme weather events on education," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 433-472, April.
    20. Hallegatte, Stephane, 2012. "Modeling the roles of heterogeneity, substitution, and inventories in the assessment of natural disaster economic costs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6047, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    natural disasters; epidemics; human capital; credit markets; development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iis:dispap:iiisdp391. 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: Maeve (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cetcdie.html .

    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.