Weathering Storms : Understanding the Impact of Natural Disasters on the Poor in Central America
In the past decades, natural disasters have caused substantial human and economic losses in Central America, with strong adverse impacts on gross domestic product per capita, income, and poverty reduction. This study provides a regional perspective...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/06/26422934/weathering-storms-understanding-impact-natural-disasters-poor-central-america http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24528 |
| Summary: | In the past decades, natural disasters
have caused substantial human and economic losses in Central
America, with strong adverse impacts on gross domestic
product per capita, income, and poverty reduction. This
study provides a regional perspective on the impact of
hurricane windstorms on socioeconomic measures in the short
term. Apart from modeling the socioeconomic impact at the
macro and micro levels, the study incorporates and
juxtaposes data from a hurricane windstorm model
categorizing three hurricane damage indexes, which lends a
higher level of detail, nuance, and therefore accuracy and
comprehensiveness to the study. One standard deviation in
the intensity of a hurricane windstorm leads to a decrease
in growth of total per capita gross domestic product of
between 0.9 and 1.6 percent, and a decrease in total income
and labor income by 3 percent, which in turn increases
moderate and extreme poverty by 1.5 percentage points. These
results demonstrate the causal relationship between
hurricane windstorm impacts and poverty in Central America,
producing regional evidence that could improve targeting of
disaster risk management policies toward those most impacted
and thus whose needs are greatest. |
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