An Exploration of the Link between Development, Economic Growth, and Natural Risk

This paper investigates the link between development, economic growth, and the economic losses from natural disasters in a general analytical framework, with an application to hurricane flood risks in New Orleans. It concludes that where capital ac...

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Main Author: Hallegatte, Stephane
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:
GDP
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16792662/exploration-link-between-development-economic-growth-natural-risk
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12052
id okr-10986-12052
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-120522021-04-23T14:02:59Z An Exploration of the Link between Development, Economic Growth, and Natural Risk Hallegatte, Stephane ACCOUNTING ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY BORROWING CAPITAL INVESTMENTS CAPITALS CASUALTIES CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE CONDITIONS COST FUNCTIONS COST OF CAPITAL DAMAGES DEATH TOLL DECISION MAKING DECISIONMAKING DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT NETWORK DEVELOPMENT POLICY DISASTER DISASTER INSURANCE DISASTER REDUCTION DISASTER RISK DISASTER RISK REDUCTION DISASTER RISKS DRIVERS EARLY WARNING EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS EARTHQUAKE EARTHQUAKES ECONOMIC COSTS ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC LOSS ECONOMIC RESEARCH ELASTICITY EMERGENCY SERVICES ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS EVACUATION EXTERNALITY EXTREME EVENTS FATALITIES FLOOD FLOOD PROTECTIONS FLOODED FLOODING FLOODS FORECASTS FUNCTIONAL FORMS GDP GDP PER CAPITA GROWTH POLICIES GROWTH RATE HOUSING HURRICANE HURRICANES INCOME INCOME ELASTICITY INSURANCE INSURANCE COVERAGE INSURANCE PREMIUM INTEREST RATE INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS INTERNATIONAL TRADE INVENTORIES INVESTIGATIONS LARGE CITIES LDCS MARGINAL COST MARGINAL COSTS MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY MIGRATION MORAL HAZARD NATIONAL INCOME NATURAL DISASTER NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION NATURAL DISASTERS NATURAL HAZARDS OPTIMIZATION PER CAPITA INCOME POLITICAL ECONOMY PRODUCTION COSTS PRODUCTION FUNCTION PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH PUBLIC POLICIES PUBLIC POLICY RATES REINSURANCE RISK AVERSION RISK MANAGEMENT RISK SHARING RISK TAKING SAFETY SAVINGS SLUMS STORM STORMS TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSPORT TROPICAL CYCLONE TSUNAMIS UNEMPLOYMENT UTILITY FUNCTION WEALTH WIND SPEED This paper investigates the link between development, economic growth, and the economic losses from natural disasters in a general analytical framework, with an application to hurricane flood risks in New Orleans. It concludes that where capital accumulates through increased density of capital at risk in a given area, and the costs of protection therefore increase more slowly than capital at risk, (i) protection improves over time and the probability of disaster occurrence decreases; (ii) capital at risk -- and thus economic losses in case of disaster -- increases faster than economic growth; (iii) increased risk-taking reinforces economic growth. In this context, average annual losses from disasters grow with income, and they grow faster than income at low levels of development and slower than income at high levels of development. These findings are robust to a broad range of modeling choices and parameter values, and to the inclusion of risk aversion. They show that risk-taking is both a driver and a consequence of economic development, and that the world is very likely to experience fewer but more costly disasters in the future. It is therefore critical to increase economic resilience through the development of stronger recovery and reconstruction support instruments. 2013-01-02T21:20:39Z 2013-01-02T21:20:39Z 2012-10 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16792662/exploration-link-between-development-economic-growth-natural-risk http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12052 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper; No. 6216 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic ACCOUNTING
ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY
BORROWING
CAPITAL INVESTMENTS
CAPITALS
CASUALTIES
CLIMATE CHANGE
CLIMATE CONDITIONS
COST FUNCTIONS
COST OF CAPITAL
DAMAGES
DEATH TOLL
DECISION MAKING
DECISIONMAKING
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
DEVELOPMENT NETWORK
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
DISASTER
DISASTER INSURANCE
DISASTER REDUCTION
DISASTER RISK
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
DISASTER RISKS
DRIVERS
EARLY WARNING
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS
EARTHQUAKE
EARTHQUAKES
ECONOMIC COSTS
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIC LOSS
ECONOMIC RESEARCH
ELASTICITY
EMERGENCY SERVICES
ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS
EVACUATION
EXTERNALITY
EXTREME EVENTS
FATALITIES
FLOOD
FLOOD PROTECTIONS
FLOODED
FLOODING
FLOODS
FORECASTS
FUNCTIONAL FORMS
GDP
GDP PER CAPITA
GROWTH POLICIES
GROWTH RATE
HOUSING
HURRICANE
HURRICANES
INCOME
INCOME ELASTICITY
INSURANCE
INSURANCE COVERAGE
INSURANCE PREMIUM
INTEREST RATE
INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
INVENTORIES
INVESTIGATIONS
LARGE CITIES
LDCS
MARGINAL COST
MARGINAL COSTS
MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY
MIGRATION
MORAL HAZARD
NATIONAL INCOME
NATURAL DISASTER
NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION
NATURAL DISASTERS
NATURAL HAZARDS
OPTIMIZATION
PER CAPITA INCOME
POLITICAL ECONOMY
PRODUCTION COSTS
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS
PRODUCTIVITY
PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
PUBLIC POLICIES
PUBLIC POLICY
RATES
REINSURANCE
RISK AVERSION
RISK MANAGEMENT
RISK SHARING
RISK TAKING
SAFETY
SAVINGS
SLUMS
STORM
STORMS
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
TRANSACTION COSTS
TRANSPORT
TROPICAL CYCLONE
TSUNAMIS
UNEMPLOYMENT
UTILITY FUNCTION
WEALTH
WIND SPEED
spellingShingle ACCOUNTING
ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY
BORROWING
CAPITAL INVESTMENTS
CAPITALS
CASUALTIES
CLIMATE CHANGE
CLIMATE CONDITIONS
COST FUNCTIONS
COST OF CAPITAL
DAMAGES
DEATH TOLL
DECISION MAKING
DECISIONMAKING
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
DEVELOPMENT NETWORK
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
DISASTER
DISASTER INSURANCE
DISASTER REDUCTION
DISASTER RISK
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
DISASTER RISKS
DRIVERS
EARLY WARNING
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS
EARTHQUAKE
EARTHQUAKES
ECONOMIC COSTS
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIC LOSS
ECONOMIC RESEARCH
ELASTICITY
EMERGENCY SERVICES
ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS
EVACUATION
EXTERNALITY
EXTREME EVENTS
FATALITIES
FLOOD
FLOOD PROTECTIONS
FLOODED
FLOODING
FLOODS
FORECASTS
FUNCTIONAL FORMS
GDP
GDP PER CAPITA
GROWTH POLICIES
GROWTH RATE
HOUSING
HURRICANE
HURRICANES
INCOME
INCOME ELASTICITY
INSURANCE
INSURANCE COVERAGE
INSURANCE PREMIUM
INTEREST RATE
INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
INVENTORIES
INVESTIGATIONS
LARGE CITIES
LDCS
MARGINAL COST
MARGINAL COSTS
MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY
MIGRATION
MORAL HAZARD
NATIONAL INCOME
NATURAL DISASTER
NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION
NATURAL DISASTERS
NATURAL HAZARDS
OPTIMIZATION
PER CAPITA INCOME
POLITICAL ECONOMY
PRODUCTION COSTS
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS
PRODUCTIVITY
PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
PUBLIC POLICIES
PUBLIC POLICY
RATES
REINSURANCE
RISK AVERSION
RISK MANAGEMENT
RISK SHARING
RISK TAKING
SAFETY
SAVINGS
SLUMS
STORM
STORMS
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
TRANSACTION COSTS
TRANSPORT
TROPICAL CYCLONE
TSUNAMIS
UNEMPLOYMENT
UTILITY FUNCTION
WEALTH
WIND SPEED
Hallegatte, Stephane
An Exploration of the Link between Development, Economic Growth, and Natural Risk
relation Policy Research Working Paper; No. 6216
description This paper investigates the link between development, economic growth, and the economic losses from natural disasters in a general analytical framework, with an application to hurricane flood risks in New Orleans. It concludes that where capital accumulates through increased density of capital at risk in a given area, and the costs of protection therefore increase more slowly than capital at risk, (i) protection improves over time and the probability of disaster occurrence decreases; (ii) capital at risk -- and thus economic losses in case of disaster -- increases faster than economic growth; (iii) increased risk-taking reinforces economic growth. In this context, average annual losses from disasters grow with income, and they grow faster than income at low levels of development and slower than income at high levels of development. These findings are robust to a broad range of modeling choices and parameter values, and to the inclusion of risk aversion. They show that risk-taking is both a driver and a consequence of economic development, and that the world is very likely to experience fewer but more costly disasters in the future. It is therefore critical to increase economic resilience through the development of stronger recovery and reconstruction support instruments.
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author Hallegatte, Stephane
author_facet Hallegatte, Stephane
author_sort Hallegatte, Stephane
title An Exploration of the Link between Development, Economic Growth, and Natural Risk
title_short An Exploration of the Link between Development, Economic Growth, and Natural Risk
title_full An Exploration of the Link between Development, Economic Growth, and Natural Risk
title_fullStr An Exploration of the Link between Development, Economic Growth, and Natural Risk
title_full_unstemmed An Exploration of the Link between Development, Economic Growth, and Natural Risk
title_sort exploration of the link between development, economic growth, and natural risk
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2013
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16792662/exploration-link-between-development-economic-growth-natural-risk
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12052
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