The Impact of Typhoons on Economic Activity in the Philippines: Evidence from Nightlight Intensity

Eric Strobl ()

No 589, ADB Economics Working Paper Series from Asian Development Bank

Abstract: We quantify the economic impact of typhoons in the Philippines. To this end we construct a panel data set of local economic activity derived from nightlight intensity satellite images and a cell level measure of typhoon damage constructed from storm track data, a wind field model, and a stylized damage function. Our econometric results reveal that there is a statistically and potentially economically significant, albeit short- lived, impact of typhoon destruction on local economic activity. Constructing risk profiles from a 60-year historical set of storms suggests that (near) future losses in economic activity for frequent (5-year return period) and rare (50-year return period) events are likely to range from between 1.0% and 2.5%.

Keywords: economic impact; nightlights; Philippines; typhoons; wind field model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O17 O44 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2019-07-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-env and nep-sea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:adbewp:0589

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