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Economic impact of floods in the Indian states

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2019

Yashobanta Parida Open the ORCID record for Yashobanta Parida [Opens in a new window]
Yashobanta Parida*
Affiliation:
Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India VKCoE, Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat, India
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: yashparida@gmail.com
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Abstract

We examine the impact of economic development and the role of political alignment on the fatalities and damages due to floods using state-level panel data for 19 Indian states over the period 1980–2011. The empirical results confirm that economic development leads to a decline in flood fatalities and damages due to floods across Indian states. This study also examines the role of politics in the prevention of flood fatalities. We find that both state election years and political alignment influence the extent of flood fatalities. The results suggest that not only economic development but also healthy political coordination between the central government and the states is essential to mitigate the impact of floods.

Keywords

economic developmentflood fatalitiesIV-Poisson modelIV-Tobit modelpolitical alignment

JEL classification

Q54: Climate • Natural Disasters and Their Management • Global Warming O1: Economic Development P16: Political Economy
Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , June 2020 , pp. 267 - 290
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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