Natural Disasters, Social Isolation and Alcohol Consumption in the Long Run: Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake

Taiki Kakimoto and Shinsuke Uchida

No 11, TUPD Discussion Papers from Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University

Abstract: Large-scale natural disasters are known to increase disaster victims' risk-taking behavior such as alcohol consumption, but the potentially prolonged phenomenon has rarely been tracked. This study examines the long-term causal effect of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident on alcohol consumption by using the monthly expenditure data of representative households in 47 prefecture capitals in Japan in 2000-2019. We use the seismic intensity (Shindo) of each city to identify the causal relationship between the earthquake and alcohol consumption. The results reveal a persistent increase in alcohol consumption in cities with a seismic intensity of 6 or higher. This trend is particularly pronounced for non-employed (retired) households. We also find that the long-term increase in alcohol consumption is associated with the persistent decline of spending on things that maintain social connections.

Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2021-11-29
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-hea and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:toh:tupdaa:11

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