The macroeconomic impact of earthquakes

In his new working paper «The Macroeconomic Impact of Earthquakes on Growth: A Tale from Two Datasets», Rabah Arezki (CNRS, CERDI) shows that earthquakes have a significant impact on GDP growth, especially for the poorest countries. 

With his coauthors — Youssouf Camara, Patrick Imam, and Kangni Kpodar — he compares data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and those of EM-DAT. The latter data are commonly used to study the effects of disasters. He shows that they are selective and often underestimate the real impacts. In short, this study demonstrates that reliable data on risk are crucial for assessing economic vulnerability and designing efficient fiscal policies to manage the repercussions of the event. 

This work is in line with the research conducted by the International Research Centre of Disaster Science and Sustainable Development of the Université Clermont Auvergne. 

Read the blog «The Data Aftershock: How Earthquake Records Distort Global Growth Estimates»  on DevDiscourse.