On the 22nd of February 2011, much of the residential housing stock in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, was damaged by an unusually destructive earthquake. Almost all of the houses were insured. We ask whether insurance was able to mitigate the damage adequately, or whether the damage from...

We investigate the fiscal impacts of earthquakes in Japan. In contrast with earlier papers from elsewhere which examine national level aggregate spending, we are able to provide a detailed examination of separate budget categories within the local governments' fiscal accounts. We do this using...

Natural hazard insurance is almost always provided through public-private partnerships. Given the dominant role of the public sector, it is surprising that equity issues have not faced more scrutiny with respect to the design of hazard insurance. We provide a detailed quantification of the...

We investigate the fiscal impacts of earthquakes in Japan. In contrast with earlier papers from elsewhere which examine national level aggregate spending, we are able to provide a detailed examination of separate budget categories within the local governments’ fiscal accounts. We do this using...

We evaluate the change in international reserves in the aftermath of significant external shocks. We examine the response of international reserves to shocks by using a quasi-experimental setup and focusing on earthquakes. The estimation is done on a panel of 103 countries over the period...