This paper examines the response of firms to capital destruction, using a new measure of firm exposure to tropical storms as a negative exogenous shock on firms' capital stock. Drawing on a panel of Indian manufacturing firms between 1995 and 2006, we establish that, depending on their strength,...

In this paper we provide a new identification strategy to test for the presence of putty-clay capital, i.e. capital that once installed cannot be re-invested. Using a panel of Indian manufacturing firms between 1995 and 2006, we quantify the response of firm sales within and across industries to...

In this paper we provide a new identification strategy to test for the presence of putty-clay capital, i.e. capital that once installed cannot be re-invested. Using a panel of Indian manufacturing firms between 1995 and 2006, we quantify the response of firm sales within and across industries to...

This paper examines the response of firms to capital destruction. Using Indian firm data we establish that tropical storms destroy up to 43% of firms' capital. We use this exogenous shock to capital and find that within industry less productive firms suffer disproportionately more, both along...

This paper examines the response of firms to capital destruction, using a new measure of firm exposure to tropical storms as a negative exogenous shock on firms' capital stock. Drawing on a panel of Indian manufacturing firms between 1995 and 2006, we establish that, depending on their strength,...

Do hurricanes have a cleansing effect? To answer this question, we test whether hurricanes lead to a reorganization of exports towards goods with higher comparative advantage. Using manufacturing exports disaggregated at the HS6 level over the period 1995-2005, we find that lower comparative...

There is little consensus in the economic literature on the effects of hurricanes on economic growth. This paper argues that this mixed evidence may result from ignoring the potential for hurricanes to generate heterogeneous impacts within countries. To test this hypothesis, we take advantage of...

This paper explores how school-age exposure to storms impacts the education and primary activity status of young adults in India. Using a cross-sectional cohort study based on wind exposure histories, we find evidence of a significant deskilling of areas vulnerable to climate change-related...