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Estimating the Economic Impact of Natural and Social Disasters, with an Application to Hurricane Katrina

Department of Business and Economics, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL 60045, USA, baade{at}lfc.edu

Robert Baumann

Department of Economics, Box 192A, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA 01610, USA, rbaumann{at}holycross.edu

Victor Matheson

Department of Economics, Box 192A, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA 01610, USA, vmatheso{at}holycross.edu

This paper examines taxable sales in the Los Angeles and Miami metropolitan areas to find evidence of the short- and long-run effects of the Rodney King riots and Hurricane Andrew on their respective economies. The comparison of these two events shows that the King riots had a long-term negative effect on Los Angeles' economy while Hurricane Andrew had a short-term positive effect on the Miami economy. The paper also applies the contrasting experiences of Los Angeles and Miami to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In some ways, Katrina is a hybrid of these two events since it combines elements of both a natural disaster and a social disaster. The paper examines how Katrina is similar to each of the previous incidents and how these similarities might affect the recovery of New Orleans following the storm.

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