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

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