Earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: Evidence from cross-country data
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Earthquakes are often attributed to a myriad of human casualties, but its variation is quite remarkable across countries. This paper first presents a conceptual analysis to understand why earthquake casualties vary across countries. After that, using a rich panel dataset of...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80689 |
| _version_ | 1848764249902415872 |
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| author | Rahman, Habib |
| author_facet | Rahman, Habib |
| author_sort | Rahman, Habib |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Earthquakes are often attributed to a myriad of human casualties, but its variation is quite remarkable across countries. This paper first presents a conceptual analysis to understand why earthquake casualties vary across countries. After that, using a rich panel dataset of countries observed over half a century, from 1950 to 2009, this paper provides empirical evidence that the middle-income countries are more susceptible to earthquake casualties because of its higher level of vulnerable buildings relative to the low- and high-income countries. This finding retains its robustness when I use different income-based criteria of country classification, control for earthquake probabilities, capture institutional effects, and devise alternative specifications. The results suggest that the governments can significantly reduce earthquake casualties by emphasising on the quality—rather than quantity—of built environment through enforcing quake-resistant regulations. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:16:22Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-80689 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:16:22Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-806892021-01-15T04:09:30Z Earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: Evidence from cross-country data Rahman, Habib Social Sciences Economics Business & Economics Earthquakes Built environment Human casualties Real GDP NATURAL DISASTERS ECONOMIC-GROWTH INCOME RISK © 2017 Elsevier B.V. Earthquakes are often attributed to a myriad of human casualties, but its variation is quite remarkable across countries. This paper first presents a conceptual analysis to understand why earthquake casualties vary across countries. After that, using a rich panel dataset of countries observed over half a century, from 1950 to 2009, this paper provides empirical evidence that the middle-income countries are more susceptible to earthquake casualties because of its higher level of vulnerable buildings relative to the low- and high-income countries. This finding retains its robustness when I use different income-based criteria of country classification, control for earthquake probabilities, capture institutional effects, and devise alternative specifications. The results suggest that the governments can significantly reduce earthquake casualties by emphasising on the quality—rather than quantity—of built environment through enforcing quake-resistant regulations. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80689 10.1016/j.econmod.2017.08.027 English ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV restricted |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Economics Business & Economics Earthquakes Built environment Human casualties Real GDP NATURAL DISASTERS ECONOMIC-GROWTH INCOME RISK Rahman, Habib Earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: Evidence from cross-country data |
| title | Earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: Evidence from cross-country data |
| title_full | Earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: Evidence from cross-country data |
| title_fullStr | Earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: Evidence from cross-country data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: Evidence from cross-country data |
| title_short | Earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: Evidence from cross-country data |
| title_sort | earthquakes don't kill, built environment does: evidence from cross-country data |
| topic | Social Sciences Economics Business & Economics Earthquakes Built environment Human casualties Real GDP NATURAL DISASTERS ECONOMIC-GROWTH INCOME RISK |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80689 |