Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/230376 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2019-10
Publisher: 
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Abstract: 
We estimate the causal effect of cash grants on household finance and business survival following a natural disaster. Disaster-affected individuals in high damage blocks with access to cash grants have 17% less credit card debt following the disaster than those without access to cash grants. Grants do not reduce negative financial outcomes, but do decrease migration. The grants play a role in mitigating the effects of the shock to businesses; resulting in 18% more establishments and 29% more employees post-disaster in disaster-affected neighborhoods where resi- dents receive grants, relative to disaster-affected neighborhoods where they do not receive grants. These effects are concentrated among small non-manufacturing establishments that rely on local demand.
JEL: 
D14
Q54
R11
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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