Economic impact of natural disasters

This thesis which consists of three empirical papers examines the economic impact of natural disasters. The first paper estimates the impact of natural disasters on financial development proxied by private credit. Employing a panel fixed effects estimator on a country-level panel data set covering 147 countries for the period from 1979 to 2011, it finds that companies and households get deeper into debt after a natural disaster in the short run. This effect is stronger in poorer countries whilst the effect is weaker in countries where agriculture is more important. In the long run, capital markets appear to improve. Findings are robust to alternative estimators, specifications, samples and data. The second paper explores the impact of natural disasters on the concentration of charitable receipts, again using country-level panel data. This analysis uses disaster indices purely based on physical intensities of natural disasters, thus overcome common issue of endogeneity in disaster data. In the short run, disasters expand the number of categories under which countries receive foreign aid and reduce the dependence on a single donor. Disasters reduce the concentration of the aid portfolio of recipient countries as measured by Herfindahl-Hirschman index. Findings are robust across alternative estimators. The study presents evidence of long term effects, too. The third paper studies the relationship between natural disasters and income inequality in Sri Lanka as the first study of this nature for the country. It constructs regional inequality indices from micro data for Sri Lanka. Natural disasters do not affect expenditure inequality, but reduce income inequality. Natural disasters decrease non-seasonal agricultural and non-agricultural income inequality but increase seasonal agricultural income inequality. Income of richer households is mainly derived from non-agricultural sources such as manufacturing and business activities and non-seasonal agricultural activities. Poorer households have a comparatively higher share of seasonal agricultural income

Impact of natural disasters on income inequality in Sri Lanka

We explore the relationship between natural disasters and income inequality in Sri Lanka as the first study of this nature for the country. The analysis uses a unique panel data set constructed for the purpose of this paper. It contains district inequality measures based on household income reported in six waves of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey of Sri Lanka during the period between 1990 and 2013, data on disaster affected population and other economic and social indicators. Employing a panel fixed effects estimator, we find that contemporaneous natural disasters and their immediate lags significantly and substantially decrease inequality in per adult equivalent household income as measured by the Theil index. Findings are robust across various inequality metrics, sub-samples and alternative estimators such as Ordinary Least Squares and System GMM. However, natural disasters do not affect household expenditure inequality. Either households behave as if they have a permanent income or all households reduce their expenditure proportionately irrespective of their income level in responding to natural disasters. Natural disasters decrease non-seasonal agricultural and non-agricultural income inequality but increase seasonal agricultural income inequality. Income of richer households is mainly derived from non-agricultural sources such as manufacturing and business activities and non-seasonal agricultural activities. Poorer households have a higher share of agricultural income

Use of information technology in supply chain management in ceramic tile industry in Sri Lanka : a study of two major players

; A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering for the MBACurrently, most of the companies attempt to find the ways to improve their flexibility, responsiveness and turn com petiveness by changing their operations strategy, method and technology which includes Information Technology (IT) in Supply Chain Management (SCM). Literature reveals that many organizations have managed to improve efficiency, responsiveness and reduce inventory level, overall cost by using IT in SCM. However, the level of IT usage for SCM in ceramic tiles industry is not known. Therefore, the research objectives were to identify the level of IT usage to facilitate SCM process and the potential barriers that affects the IT implementation and adoption for SCM in ceramic tile industry in Sri Lanka. Based on the user views and literature, a conceptual model was developed in order to meet research objectives. The qualitative and quantitative data collected from sixty three executives/managers in two major tile manufacturing companies, top thirty suppliers and thirty two dealers/distributors in tile industry through multiple questionnaires and direct interviews. The results of the exploratory interviews and the survey highlighted that both companies indicate super performance in terms of several best practices in SCM. However both companies demonstrated weakness in several areas. The majority of the weaknesses have arisen out of information related cause. Furthermore, it was identified that the level of overall IT adoption in both companies are not satisfactory level. These results lead to investigate the barriers that affect slow down IT adoption for SCM in ceramic tile industry in Sri Lanka. The finding reveal that technological barriers, organizational barriers and external barriers have been contributed towards the slow down IT implementation and IT adoption in SCM in ceramic tile industry in Sr

An investigation of functional diversity of endogenous cellulase and expression of other digestive enzyme genes in freshwater crayfish (Cherax) species

The project evaluated potential of soluble cellulose as a cheap feed ingredient for major farmed Australian freshwater crayfish species testing their growth performance, digestive enzyme activity and digestive enzyme gene expression patterns. Test animals showed an innate capacity to utilise a range of carbohydrate sources including complex structural polysaccharides. Results suggest that more plant-derived ingredient can be incorporated in formulated low-cost feeds for the culture industry

Statistical model for earthquake economic loss estimation using GDP and DPI: a case study from Iran

As earthquakes can result in multi-dimensional negative consequences such as human loss and building damage, the ability to make accurate economic loss estimations immediately after the occurrence is crucial. Unfortunately, in many earthquake-stricken countries such as Iran, governments are often unable to quickly or accurately assess post-earthquake losses. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to extend the model developed by Chan et al. (Nat Hazards 17:269–283, 1998) to two independent variables to develop an earthquake economic loss estimation method based on the economic and socio-economic indices gross domestic product (GDP) and disposable personal income (DPI) and a seismic hazard probability function. A global cell map is also considered to assess the GDP and DPI based on the population in each cell affected by the earthquake. In the final stage, using the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, 18 earthquake damaged areas in Iran are taken as case study to estimate the economic losses using the new model presented in this paper