A1470
Title: Raided by the storm: Impacts on income and wages from three decades of U.S. thunderstorms
Authors: Matteo Coronese - Scuola Superiore Sant\'Anna (Italy) [presenting]
Federico Crippa - Northwestern University (United States)
Francesco Lamperti - Scuola Superiore SantAnna (Italy)
Francesca Chiaromonte - The Pennsylvania State University (United States)
Andrea Roventini - Scuola Superiore SantAnna (Italy)
Abstract: Understanding the economic impact of weather events, such as those increasingly linked to climate change, is crucial for policy-making and designing damage mitigation strategies. The effects of a weather event are considered less extreme than floods or hurricanes have been understudied to date: thunderstorms. Thunderstorms can still be highly damaging and affect much broader regions than, say, hurricanes. Their impacts on wages and income growth are analyzed using a panel dataset spanning three decades and capturing more than 200,000 storm events of varying strength in the United States. The findings reveal a significant and robust negative association between storm activity and all macroeconomic variables examined. Notably, while income tends to recover in the long run, wages exhibit a more stubborn decline, suggesting persistent impacts on income inequality. The analyses also highlight a lack of effective hazard-driven adaptation and the existence of significant adaptation gaps, with economically disadvantaged areas displaying stronger negative associations. Moreover, evidence is found for an important role of federal assistance and support, which effectively counteract storm-induced losses. The results are partially at odds with the "build back better" hypothesis and the need for comprehensive strategies to address the complex dynamics of storm-induced impacts is emphasized, closing existing adaptation gaps and ensuring an equitable outcome.
