Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/250118 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
AGDI Working Paper No. WP/21/094
Publisher: 
African Governance and Development Institute (AGDI), Yaoundé
Abstract: 
This study evaluates the economic impact of severe natural disasters in Africa using the generalized synthetic control method. In other words, it assesses how gross domestic product (GDP) would have been affected if severe natural disasters did not occur. Moreover, it explores the determinants of the destructiveness of the impact, focusing on the role played by capital. We find that severe natural disasters induce a significant and continuous reduction of GDP many years after the event. Indeed, economic losses caused by disasters depend on the level of capital (human capital, employment and capital stock) and aspects of governance quality (political stability and absence of violence). In other words, negative synergies are apparent because while capital stock, employment and human capital unconditionally reduce the macroeconomic impact of natural disasters, the corresponding conditional or interactive effects with political stability are also negative. Policy implications are discussed.
Subjects: 
natural disasters
economic growth
Africa
JEL: 
Q54
O17
O55
P1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
851.81 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.