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Natural disasters and child health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2020

Dhanushka Thamarapani Open the ORCID record for Dhanushka Thamarapani [Opens in a new window]
Dhanushka Thamarapani*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, California State University, Chico, CA, USA
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: dthamarapani@csuchico.edu
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Abstract

With the increasing number of natural disasters, understanding the links between these events and child health has become timely and pertinent. Using a panel dataset, this paper empirically investigates the persistent effects on child health due to exposure to a series of natural disasters that occurred from 2002 to 2007 in Indonesia. We find that girls exposed to multiple disaster events are 0.19 standard deviations shorter and are 7 per cent more likely to be stunted when measured 7 to 12 years later. We find no persistent effect on boys. From a public policy perspective, we highlight the need for coping strategies beyond access to credit or remittances in order to mitigate growth retardation in children.

Keywords

childhood shockscredit availabilityIndonesiastuntingI15J13J16O53

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 26 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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