The effects of weather shocks on early childhood development: Evidence from 25 years of tropical storms in Jamaica

Diether Beuermann and Camilo J. Pecha

Economics & Human Biology, 2020, vol. 37, issue C

Abstract: This study analyses the effects of exposure to tropical storms and hurricanes during pregnancy on children’s anthropometric measures taken within the first five years of life. We merge destruction indexes calculated at the district level with 13 yearly rounds of household level surveys from Jamaica. The empirical strategy exploits variation arising from the storms’ timing and intensity across different cohorts within the same district. The findings rule out medium-to-large overall adverse effects of tropical storms. However, when expectant mothers living in coastal-rural areas are affected by the cumulative destruction of two hurricanes, their children experience negative impacts on both weight-for-age and weight-for-height measures.

Keywords: Health shock; Anthropometric measurements; Tropical storms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J13 O15 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:37:y:2020:i:c:s1570677x19300474

DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2020.100851

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