American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
Disastrous Displacement: The Long-Run Impacts of Landslides
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
(pp. 472–508)
Abstract
Natural disasters displace millions of people a year, but their economic impacts are difficult to study when the affected population becomes dispersed. This paper estimates the long-run impacts of six landslides in Uganda on nearly the full affected population. The analysis exploits the sharp boundaries between households residing along a landslide path and those on the same slopes but outside the path. Years after the landslides, affected households earn 50 percent less income and are 18 percentage points less likely to report being satisfied with their lives. Further analysis points to social capital as a determinant of successful post-disaster recovery.Citation
Baseler, Travis, and Jakob Hennig. 2026. "Disastrous Displacement: The Long-Run Impacts of Landslides." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 18 (4): 472–508. DOI: 10.1257/app.20240759Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H84 Disaster Aid
- J11 Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
- O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
- O13 Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
- Q54 Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification