ABSTRACT

Disasters are becoming more frequent events that affect an increasing share of the world population each year. In this paper I examine the economic effects of the 2007 flood in Tabasco, Mexico. Using the geographical coverage of the flood and detailed labour information I demonstrate that the flood caused an immediate decline in work income for the affected population. This result is mainly driven by an increase in the number of, predominantly male, workers that continue to work after the flood but now earn less than the minimum wage. The agricultural sector experienced the most severe income decline, although I find no changes in sectoral composition. Using night light as a proxy for economic activity I find no effects of the flood, which indicates that returns rather than activity levels were affected.

摘要

灾害正变得越来越频繁，每年影响着越来越多的世界人口。在本文中，我研究了 2007 年墨西哥塔巴斯科州洪水对经济的影响。利用洪水的地理覆盖范围和详细的劳动力信息，我证明洪水导致受灾人口的工作收入立即下降。这一结果主要是由于洪水后继续工作但现在收入低于最低工资的工人人数增加（主要是男性）。农业部门经历了最严重的收入下降，尽管我发现部门构成没有变化。使用夜灯作为经济活动的代表，我发现洪水没有影响，这表明回报而不是活动水平受到影响。