Floods, Bushfires and Sectoral Economic Output in Australia, 1978–2014

© 2018 Economic Society of Australia Using state-level annual variation in natural disasters and economic output in Australia, we estimate the direct effects of floods and bushfires on sectoral gross value added during the period 1978–2014. We find that floods exert an adverse and persistent effe...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ulubaşoğlu, Mehmet Ali, Rahman, Muhammad Habibur, Önder, Yasin Kürşat, Chen, Yiqun, Rajabifard, Abbas
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: WILEY 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1475-4932.12446
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80688
Description
Summary:© 2018 Economic Society of Australia Using state-level annual variation in natural disasters and economic output in Australia, we estimate the direct effects of floods and bushfires on sectoral gross value added during the period 1978–2014. We find that floods exert an adverse and persistent effect on the outputs of agriculture, mining, construction and financial services sectors. For example, our estimates indicate that a state that experienced a flood in a given year encountered, on average, 5–6 per cent lower agricultural output in both that year and the following year, compared to another state with no such flood experience. Sectoral responses to bushfires are more nuanced.