The influence of local development on the impact of natural disasters in Northeast Brazil: The case of droughts and floods in the state of Ceará

Victor Hugo De Oliveira Silva, João Mário Santos de França, Francisco Mário Viana Martins

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7 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Using data from the Damage Assessment Reports from the Civil Defence, the current study investigates the relationship between the damage caused by natural disasters and local development at the municipality level in Ceará state, Brazil. The results show that a better urban and water supply infrastructure, a lower population density, and a higher proportion of own revenues relative to total revenues are associated with smaller disaster damage. However, economic development in terms of GDP per capita exhibits a convex relationship with the impact of natural disasters across municipalities, reflecting the potential decreasing returns of preventive investments due to the highly hazardous environment that involves municipalities.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1019-1044
Number of pages26
JournalPapers in Regional Science
Volume99
Issue number4
Early online date18 Feb 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2020

Keywords

  • Brazil
  • Ceará
  • local development
  • natural disasters

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