Creative destruction revisited: regional impacts of natural disasters beyond GDP
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This research shows that the economic impact of the hydrogeological disasters critically depends on the quality of local institutions. Using Italian Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) 3 data, we identify significant divergences across regions: after a disaster, high-quality institutions promote economic recovery, even stimulating gross domestic product (GDP) growth beyond pre-disaster levels. In contrast, regions with weak institutions experience structural economic decline. This divergence pertains to economic indicators exclusively. Socially, regardless of institutional quality, affected regions experience a deterioration in poverty levels, inequality and human development. These findings suggest that post-disaster policies prioritise economic over the mitigation of social vulnerability.
Source: Regional Studies
Institution: University of Florence
Language: English
Subfield: Transportation
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4414440413