Enterprise Recovery Following Natural Disasters
Using data from surveys of enterprises in Sri Lanka after the December 2004 tsunami, the authors undertake the first microeconomic study of the recovery of the private firms in a developing country following a major natural disaster. Disaster recov...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100413103243 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3756 |
| Summary: | Using data from surveys of enterprises
in Sri Lanka after the December 2004 tsunami, the authors
undertake the first microeconomic study of the recovery of
the private firms in a developing country following a major
natural disaster. Disaster recovery in low-income countries
is characterized by the prevalence of relief aid rather than
of insurance payments; the data show this distinction has
important consequences. The data indicate that aid provided
directly to households correlates reasonably well with
reported losses of household assets, but is uncorrelated
with reported losses of business assets. Business recovery
is found to be slower than commonly assumed, with
disaster-affected enterprises lagging behind unaffected
comparable firms more than three years after the disaster.
Using data from random cash grants provided by the project,
the paper shows that direct aid is more important in the
recovery of enterprises operating in the retail sector than
for those operating in the manufacturing and service sectors. |
|---|