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The effect of natural disasters on human capital in the United States
Although natural disasters are commonplace, they leave in their wake an enormous amount of damage. The physical damage they cause is immediately apparent, but less obvious is the potential magnitude of disruptions to learning and resulting damage to human capital. Using the universe of Presidential...
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Published in: | Nature human behaviour 2023-09, Vol.7 (9), p.1442-1453 |
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Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Although natural disasters are commonplace, they leave in their wake an enormous amount of damage. The physical damage they cause is immediately apparent, but less obvious is the potential magnitude of disruptions to learning and resulting damage to human capital. Using the universe of Presidential Disaster Declarations in the United States, we show that natural disasters impact a region’s human capital both via reductions in learning for students who remain in school as well as a reduction in the years of schooling completed. These effects appear to be scarring and persistent. Quantifying these losses using the implied reduction of lifetime earnings suggests that natural disasters reduce a region’s human capital by a similar magnitude as the assessed property damage.
Natural disasters affect a region’s human capital as well as its physical capital, reducing both student achievement and educational attainment. These effects are persistent, and when monetized are of a similar magnitude as property damage. |
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ISSN: | 2397-3374 2397-3374 |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41562-023-01610-z |