The Re-Building Effect of Hurricanes: Evidence from Employment in the US Construction Industry

15 Pages Posted: 16 Jun 2008

See all articles by Eric Strobl

Eric Strobl

Ecole Polytechnique, Paris - Department of Economic Sciences; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Frank Walsh

National University of Ireland - University College Dublin

Abstract

We examine the impact of hurricane strikes on the construction industry in US counties. To this end we use a measure of hurricane destruction derived from a wind field model and historical hurricane track data and employ this within a dynamic labour demand framework. Our results show that destruction due to hurricanes causes on average an increase in country level employment in construction of a little over 25 per cent.

Keywords: hurricanes, labour demand, construction industry

JEL Classification: J23, Q54

Suggested Citation

Strobl, Eric and Walsh, Frank, The Re-Building Effect of Hurricanes: Evidence from Employment in the US Construction Industry. IZA Discussion Paper No. 3544, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1145923 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1145923

Eric Strobl (Contact Author)

Ecole Polytechnique, Paris - Department of Economic Sciences ( email )

Ecole Polytechnique
Department of Economics
Paris, 75005
France

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Frank Walsh

National University of Ireland - University College Dublin ( email )

Department of Economics
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
353-1-7068697 (Phone)
353-1-2830068 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ucd.ie/~economic/staff/fwalsh/

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