Disasters and Economic Welfare : Can National Savings Help Explain Post-disaster Changes in Consumption?

Mechler, Reinhard

dc.creator	Mechler, Reinhard
dc.date	2012-03-19T19:11:21Z
dc.date	2012-03-19T19:11:21Z
dc.date	2009-07-01
dc.date.accessioned	2023-02-17T21:10:38Z
dc.date.available	2023-02-17T21:10:38Z
dc.identifier	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090706082915
dc.identifier	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4179
dc.identifier.uri	http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/245216
dc.description	The debate on whether natural disasters cause significant macroeconomic impacts and indeed hinder development is ongoing. Most analyses along these lines have focused on impacts on gross domestic product. This paper looks beyond this standard national accounting aggregate, and examines whether traditional and alternative national savings measures combined with adjustments for the destruction of capital stocks may contribute to better explaining post-disaster changes in welfare as measured by changes in consumption expenditure. The author concludes that including disaster asset losses may help to better explain variations in post-disaster consumption, albeit almost exclusively for the group of low-income countries. The observed effect is rather small and in the range of a few percent of the explained variation. For low-income countries, capital stock and changes therein, such as forced by disaster shocks, seem to play a more important role than for higher-income economies, where human capital and technological progress become crucial. There are important data constraints and uncertainties, particularly regarding the quality of disaster loss data and the shares of capital stock losses therein. Another important challenge potentially biasing the results is the lack of data on alternative savings measures for many disaster-exposed lower-income countries and small island states.
dc.language	English
dc.relation	Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 4988
dc.rights	CC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.rights	World Bank
dc.subject	ACCOUNTING
dc.subject	ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES
dc.subject	ADVERSE EFFECTS
dc.subject	ADVERSE IMPACT
dc.subject	AGRICULTURE
dc.subject	AIR POLLUTION
dc.subject	CALCULATION
dc.subject	CALCULATIONS
dc.subject	CAPITAL ACCUMULATION
dc.subject	CAPITAL STOCK
dc.subject	CAPITAL STOCKS
dc.subject	CENTRE FOR RESEARCH ON THE EPIDEMIOLOGY
dc.subject	CLIMATE CHANGE
dc.subject	COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
dc.subject	CONTRIBUTION
dc.subject	CRED
dc.subject	DAMAGES
dc.subject	DEMOGRAPHIC
dc.subject	DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE
dc.subject	DEPRECIATION
dc.subject	DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
dc.subject	DEVELOPING ECONOMIES
dc.subject	DEVELOPMENT BANK
dc.subject	DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
dc.subject	DEVELOPMENT NETWORK
dc.subject	DISASTER
dc.subject	DISASTER COMMUNITY
dc.subject	DISASTER EVENTS
dc.subject	DISASTER PREVENTION
dc.subject	DISASTER RECOVERY
dc.subject	DISASTER REDUCTION
dc.subject	DISASTER RISK
dc.subject	DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
dc.subject	DISASTERS
dc.subject	DISCOUNT RATE
dc.subject	DISCOUNT RATES
dc.subject	DROUGHT
dc.subject	DROUGHTS
dc.subject	EARTHQUAKE
dc.subject	EARTHQUAKES
dc.subject	ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
dc.subject	ECONOMIC INFORMATION
dc.subject	ECONOMIC RISK
dc.subject	EMERGING ECONOMIES
dc.subject	ENTRY POINT
dc.subject	EXTREME EVENTS
dc.subject	FINANCIAL LOSSES
dc.subject	FIXED CAPITAL
dc.subject	FLOOD
dc.subject	FLOODING
dc.subject	FLOODS
dc.subject	FOREST FIRES
dc.subject	GDP
dc.subject	GDP DEFLATOR
dc.subject	GLOBALIZATION
dc.subject	GNP
dc.subject	GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
dc.subject	GROSS INCOME
dc.subject	GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT
dc.subject	GROSS NATIONAL SAVINGS
dc.subject	HUMAN CAPITAL
dc.subject	HURRICANE
dc.subject	HURRICANES
dc.subject	INCOME
dc.subject	INCOME GROUPS
dc.subject	INSURANCE
dc.subject	INSURANCE COMPANIES
dc.subject	INVESTING
dc.subject	LOW INCOME
dc.subject	LOW INCOME GROUP
dc.subject	LOW-INCOME
dc.subject	LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES
dc.subject	LOW-INCOME GROUP
dc.subject	LOW-INCOME GROUPS
dc.subject	NATIONAL INCOME
dc.subject	NATURAL CATASTROPHES
dc.subject	NATURAL DISASTER
dc.subject	NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION
dc.subject	NATURAL DISASTERS
dc.subject	NATURAL HAZARDS
dc.subject	NATURAL RESOURCE
dc.subject	NATURAL RESOURCES
dc.subject	NET CAPITAL
dc.subject	NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
dc.subject	OUTPUT
dc.subject	PER CAPITA INCOME
dc.subject	POLITICAL ECONOMY
dc.subject	PREDICTABILITY
dc.subject	PRESENT VALUE
dc.subject	RECONSTRUCTION
dc.subject	REGRESSION ANALYSIS
dc.subject	REINSURANCE
dc.subject	REINVESTMENTS
dc.subject	RELIEF
dc.subject	RENTS
dc.subject	RISK MANAGEMENT
dc.subject	SAVINGS
dc.subject	SOCIAL CAPITAL
dc.subject	SOCIAL COSTS
dc.subject	SOCIAL WELFARE
dc.subject	STOCKS
dc.subject	STORM
dc.subject	STORMS
dc.subject	SUDDEN ONSET DISASTERS
dc.subject	SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
dc.subject	SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
dc.subject	THIRD WORLD
dc.subject	TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
dc.subject	TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
dc.subject	TROPICAL CYCLONES
dc.subject	VOLATILITY
dc.subject	WEALTH
dc.subject	WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS
dc.title	Disasters and Economic Welfare : Can National Savings Help Explain Post-disaster Changes in Consumption?
dc.type	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
dc.coverage	The World Region
dc.coverage	The World Region