Natural disasters and social capital formation: The impact of the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake

Eiji Yamamura ()

EERI Research Paper Series from Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels

Abstract: The Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake struck Japan in 1995, causing devastating damage to the economic landscape of south-central Japan. The earthquake also caused people to realize the importance of social capital in Japan. Based on a large, individual-level database comprising 488,223 observations, this study investigated how, and the extent to which, the earthquake enhanced the investment in social capital through participation in community activity. The differences-in-differences method was used, and the following key findings were obtained: (1) In Japan, people were more likely to invest in social capital in 1996 than in 1991, (2) the effects of the earthquake decreased as the distance of one’s place of residence increased from Kobe, and (3) the earthquake significantly increased the social capital investment rate of Kobe residents, whereas it had no significant influence on the investment rate of residents of large cities close to Kobe.

Keywords: Natural disasters; social capital; volunteer activities. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N35 Q54 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-09-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-soc and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://www.eeri.eu/documents/wp/EERI_RP_2013_10.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Natural disasters and social capital formation: The impact of the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake (2016)
Working Paper: Natural disasters and social capital formation: The impact of the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2013_10

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