Natural disasters: blessings in disguise?

This study examines the impact of natural disasters on market returns and on several industries that are likely to be affected by the disasters. We find that different natural disasters have different impacts on the returns of the market and on those of industries. Our evidence suggests that while earthquake, hurricane and tornado could negatively affect market returns several weeks after the events, other disasters such as flood, tsunami and volcanic eruption may have limited impact on market returns. We also find that construction and materials industry is positively affected by natural disasters but nonlife and travel industries are likely to suffer when a natural disaster strikes

Book review: The economic impacts of natural disasters

"The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters." Edited by Debarati Guha-Sapir and Indhira Santos. Oxford Univesity Press. May 2013. --- Since the turn of the millennium, more than one million people have been killed and 2.3 billion others have been directly affected by natural disasters around the world. Economic Impacts presents six national case studies (Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Nicaragua, Japan and the Netherlands) and seeks to show how household surveys and country-level macroeconomic data can analyse and quantify the economic impact of disasters. Tom McDermott finds that this book provides a useful set of starting points both for policy debates and further research on the economics of natural disasters

Enterprise recovery following natural disasters

Using data from surveys of enterprises in Sri Lanka after the December 2004 tsunami, the authors undertake the first microeconomic study of the recovery of the private firmsin a developing country following a major natural disaster. Disaster recovery in low-income countries is characterized by the prevalence of relief aid rather than of insurance payments; the data show this distinction has important consequences. The data indicate that aid provided directly to households correlates reasonably well with reported losses of household assets, but is uncorrelated with reported losses of business assets. Business recovery is found to be slower than commonly assumed, with disaster-affected enterprises lagging behind unaffected comparable firms more than three years after the disaster. Using data from random cash grants provided by the project, the paper shows that direct aid is more important in the recovery of enterprises operating in the retail sector than for those operating in the manufacturing and service sectors.Microfinance,Debt Markets,Banks&Banking Reform,Natural Disasters,Hazard Risk Management

The Economics of Natural Disasters

Naturkatastrophe; Soziale Kosten; Messung; Prognoseverfahren; Theorie

Preventing and Mitigating Natural Disasters

This report highlights the importance of developing and sharing information on natural hazards, ensuring that the disaster-management community, decision-makers and the public understand the risks posed by these hazards and recognize the onset of hazardous weather and its impact on safety and survival procedures. Educational levels: High school, Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division, Graduate or professional, Informal education, General public

Natural Disasters

This paper traces the key developments and themes for the topic of human rights and 'natural disasters' over the past three decades. It starts by outline the debates on the existence and content of a ‘(human) right to humanitarian assistance’ in disasters. It then proceeds to discusses the contribution of the ILC Draft Articles on the protection of persons in disasters to the protection of human rights. Finally, it unpacks the existence of state obligations for human rights protection throughout the entire so-called ‘disaster cycle’, i.e. from preparedness, to response, to recovery. The paper also more genrally additionally how new threats and issues are arising in the domain of human rights and natural disasters, e.g. as posed by climate change, or encroachment on damage to wildlife and biodiversity (e.g. pandemic risk)

Institution, economic development, and impact of natural disasters

This paper uses cross-country data from 1984 to 2008 to examine how institution influences the number of deaths caused by natural disasters. The major findings show that the number of deaths resulting from natural disasters is smaller in countries with less public sector corruption, and for OECD countries with better functioning legal systems, but not for non-OECD countries