Extreme Weather Events and Local Fiscal Responses: Evidence from US Counties
This journal article examines the impacts of floods and hurricanes on U.S. county government finances.
Abstract
This paper examines the impacts of floods and hurricanes on U.S. county government finances. Using a novel event study model that allows for heterogeneous treatment effects, we find that a flood or hurricane presidential disaster declaration (PDD) lowers tax revenue but increases government spending and intergovernmental revenues. Compared to flooding, hurricanes result in much larger repercussions on both revenues and borrowing. Our results also suggest disparate patterns of disaster-induced long-run fiscal impacts in counties with different socioeconomic conditions. Counties with lower incomes or greater social vulnerability tend to experience tax revenue losses and engage in more borrowing after a PDD, whereas higher-income counties see increased tax revenues and spending and also receive more intergovernmental transfers than their poorer counterparts.
Authors
Qing Miao
Rochester Institute of Technology
Michael Abrigo
Philippine Institute for Development Studies
Yilin Hou
Syracuse University
