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- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI13010961/00001
Notes
- Summary:
- This document is part of a larger research effort to understand how natural disasters affect economies at the household level, using Vietnam as a case study. It seeks to answer questions regarding the socio-economic groups that are most vulnerable to welfare losses due to disaster, how this loss persists over time, and the effectiveness of various forms of intervention in mitigating such losses. The authors begin by outlining the two principle objectives of the document. First, to develop a methodology using more objective and disaggregated natural hazard maps from meteorological weather station data, storm tracks, and satellite observations. These maps focus primarily on droughts, heavy rainfall, river floods, and storms with hurricane force. Second, direct costs related to the destruction of capital and reduced work capacity, as well as indirect costs related to disruptions in the flow of goods and services are ascertained using Vietnam’s national living standard measurement surveys from 2002, 2004, and 2006. The data from these two sources are integrated, and expected welfare loss is estimated using regression analysis. The authors then enter a discussion about factors affecting household income and consumption, such as level of exposure to the disaster and capacity to cope once the disaster has passed. They point to the resilience of farmers with irrigated fields and households not dependent on agriculture to drought, and how households with access to remittances or targeted disaster relief are faster in recovering from disaster. Their research found that although those further away from large urban centers are poorer, they also tended to suffer less from the regular occurrence of natural disasters. Their constant exposure to disaster and lower capacity to cope led them to develop lifestyles and livelihoods that were less remunerative, but were also less risky and thus more resilient. While households in Vietnam facing frequent drought conditions saw their capacity to cope eroded, and thus substantial welfare loss, those exposed to frequent flooding were not nearly as affected. River flooding was often not experienced as negative, as households have built their livelihood systems around them, and learned to live with them. Hurricanes force winds generally inflicted the most damage, and were most difficult for households to adjust to. There was evidence that adaptation through the development of effective disaster relief systems substantially mitigates economic loss at the household level and promotes early recovery. ( English,English,English )
- Subject:
- Disasters and Economics
- Scope and Content:
- 1. Natural disasters and welfare p. 2; 2. Mapping natural hazards p. 4; 3. Identifying welfare effects from natural disasters p. 10; 4. Toward an empirical application p. 14; 5. Welfare effects of natural disasters in Vietnam p. 16; 6. Concluding remarks p. 22
- Citation/Reference:
- Thomas, T., Christiaensen, L., Toan Do, Q., & Trung, L. (2010). Natural disasters and household welfare: evidence from Vietnam. The World Bank
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- Florida International University
- Rights Management:
- This publication is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. For full details of the license, please refer to the following: http://creative-commons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode
- Resource Identifier:
- FI13010961
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