Earthquakes and Mental Health

E-print/Working paper (2021)

Earthquakes may seriously deteriorate mental health by generating fear and stress as a result of economic and human losses. However, mental health has also been found to improve as a result of greater ... [more ▼]

Earthquakes may seriously deteriorate mental health by generating fear and stress as a result of economic and human losses. However, mental health has also been found to improve as a result of greater social cohesion in affected communities after the event. We examine the short-run effects of earthquakes on a wide set of mental health outcomes in Ecuador. To this end, we combine hospital admissions, death records, and survey data with precise measures of local seismic activity to exploit the plausibly random spatial and temporal nature of earthquake intensity. We find that damaging earthquakes decrease the propensity to be admitted, the number of days of hospitalisation for mental and behavioural disorders, and deaths due to suicide. Estimates from nationally-representative surveys provide suggestive evidence of increased life satisfaction, trust, and religious observance, and thus provide a possible explanation for the fall in admissions and suicides after an earthquake. [less ▲]

Hurricane Damage Risk Assessment in the Caribbean: An Analysis using Synthetic Hurricane Events and Nightlight Imagery

Scientific Conference (2014, July 13)

Pollution and child mortality: the case of tropospheric ozone in sub-Saharan Africa

Presentation (2014, May 13)

Quantifying the Local Economic Growth Impact of Hurricane Strikes: An Analysis from Outer Space for the Caribbean

in Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (2013), 52(8), 1688-1697

Studies of the impact of hurricanes on economic activity typically are restricted to a very aggregate level of analysis because of the lack of spatially disaggregated data. In this paper nightlight ... [more ▼]

Studies of the impact of hurricanes on economic activity typically are restricted to a very aggregate level of analysis because of the lack of spatially disaggregated data. In this paper nightlight satellite imagery is employed as a measure of local economic activity in conjunction with a local proxy for potential hurricane destruction generated from a wind field model to statistically assess the impact of hurricane strikes on local economic growth. The regression results suggest that on average hurricane strikes reduce income growth by around 1.5% at the local level, with no effect beyond the year of the strike. This estimated impact from localized data is more than 2 times that implied by aggregate analyses. [less ▲]

Pollution and child mortality: the case of tropospheric ozone in sub-Saharan Africa

Scientific Conference (2013, June 20)

Sustainable economic development and the environment: Theory and evidence

in Energy Economics (2012), 34(4), 1105-1114

The relationship between growth and pollution is studied through a vintage capital model, where new technologies are more environmentally friendly. We find that once the optimal scrapping age of ... [more ▼]

The relationship between growth and pollution is studied through a vintage capital model, where new technologies are more environmentally friendly. We find that once the optimal scrapping age of technologies is reached, an economy may achieve two possible cases of sustainable development, one in which pollution falls and another in which it stabilizes, or a catastrophic outcome, where environmental quality reaches its lower bound. The outcome will depend on countries’ investment path and their propensity to innovate in environmentally clean technologies, both of which are likely to differ across economies. Empirical results using long time series for a number of developed and developing countries indeed confirm heterogenous experiences in the pollution-output relationship. [less ▲]

Polluting Technologies and Sustainable Economic Development

in International Journal of Global Environmental Issues (2010), 10(1/2), 63-83

The relationship between growth and pollution is studied through a vintage capital model, where new technologies are more environmentally friendly. We find that once the optimal scrapping age of ... [more ▼]

The relationship between growth and pollution is studied through a vintage capital model, where new technologies are more environmentally friendly. We find that once the optimal scrapping age of technologies is reached, an economy may achieve two possible cases of sustainable development, one in which pollution falls and another in which it stabilizes, or a catastrophic outcome, where environmental quality reaches its lower bound. The outcome will depend on countries’ investment path and their propensity to innovate in environmentally clean technologies, both of which are likely to differ across economies. Empirical results using long time series for a number of developed and developing countries indeed confirm heterogenous experiences in the pollution-output relationship. [less ▲]

Determinants of Excess Worker Turnover in Luxembourg

in International Journal of Manpower (2009), 30(3), 253-268

Economic Development and Environmental Quality: A Reassessment in Light of Nature's Self-Regeneration Capacity

in Ecological Economics (2008), 66(2-3), 371-378

Coagglomeration and Spillovers

in Regional Science & Urban Economics (2006), 36(4), 467-481