Human Capital Investment after the Storm

Emily A Gallagher, Stephen B Billings and Lowell Ricketts

The Review of Financial Studies, 2023, vol. 36, issue 7, 2651-2684

Abstract: How does household exposure to a natural disaster affect higher education investments? Using variation in flooding from Hurricane Harvey (2017), we find that college-aged adults from flooded blocks in Houston are 7% less likely than counterparts to have student loans after Harvey, with larger effects in areas with more potential first-generation students. We find a similar relative decline in enrollment at more exposed Texas universities and colleges and a shift toward majors with higher expected earnings. Our results highlight a decrease in the quantity but an increase in the intensity of investments in human capital after the storm.Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

JEL-codes: D12 G51 I22 Q54 R00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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