The paper employs statistical hypothesis tests to explore the question of whether natural hazards (hail and tornadoes being considered here) are or are not intertemporally random. The answer to this question, at least for these two hazards, is surprising and has important policy implications:...

We introduce the first comprehensive publicly available dataset on county-level damages, injuries, and fatalities from natural disasters in the U.S. and present a few facts on the economic and human costs of extreme climate events. Our source is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Timely assistance is a precondition for effective emergency relief in the aftermath of natural disasters. This paper shows that donor countries take faster aid decisions if they have stronger strategic interests at stake. We analyze a trilateral panel (donor, donor, recipient) of daily...

Having achieved an export led exponential economic growth, Singapore remains vulnerable to both natural disasters and economic crises. One significant public health crisis that impacts Singapore's economy is the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003. Another crisis of...

The recent literature on the determinants of populism has highlighted the role of long-term trends of progressive isolation and prolonged economic stagnation in engendering discontent and, in turn, demand for political change. We investigate, instead, the potential of unanticipated local shocks...

Disasters could damage the economy and market. Many studies inquire how a calamitous event changes household risk perception and home value to understand the hazard’s influence on expected utility. A remaining challenge is identifying equalizing difference, a necessary spatial equilibrium...

The actions the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency in the months following Hurricane Katrina are critiqued, with an emphasis on how private-sector responses would have differed. We conclude that a large and bureaucratized response to disasters hinders economic calculation, incentive...

The impacts of climate change on developing economies are becoming increasingly severe, creating challenges for risk management and requiring enhanced levels of resilience. This paper explores how to mitigate the effects of such climate shocks on developing economies, placing a particular focus...

We study the electoral repercussions of the L'Aquila earthquake in 2009, one of Italy's most catastrophic post-WWII seismic events. We construct a unique municipality-level dataset, combining high-resolution data on the ground acceleration recorded during the earthquake with European election...

In recent years, certain states facing a high probability of catastrophic hurricane and earthquake exposures have added the burden of socializing the risk of individual and business property losses instead of leaving these private actions subject to voluntary insurance markets. In turn, these...