Human well-being after 2015 Nepal earthquake: micro-evidence from one of the hardest hit rural villages

Sapkota, Jeet Bahadur

doi:10.1504/ijsd.2018.10022559

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…This indicates reducing caste and ethnic gaps in academic performance on one hand and, on the other hand, that the earthquake affected all sociocultural groups similarly. This finding contradicts the results of various qualitative studies and theoretical arguments which claim that natural disasters harm socially marginalized groups to a greater extent, such as ethnic minorities or lower-caste people [46,53]. The reason for our contradictory findings signals the weaking discrimination across caste and ethnicity in Nepalese society.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 92%

“…While this study focuses on overall life satisfaction covering personal, family, as well as social aspects of life, the previous studies were highly focused on stress and behavioral disorders. Another reason could be driven by the rural-urban difference in people's perception in their life, because past studies showed that people in more rural areas have better subjective wellbeing than that of people in less rural or urban areas [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Academic Impacts of 2015 Nepal Earthquake: Evidence from Two Secondary Schools in Sindhupalchok District

Sapkota

Neupane

2021

Education Sciences

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How do natural disasters affect academic performance? Despite numerous studies having been conducted after the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the academic impacts of this tragic event have rarely been explored. Applying the OLS estimation on the microdata collected through a questionnaire survey among 189 secondary school students of two secondary schools in one of the hardest-hit rural villages, we found that students’ average annual test scores dropped by 7% after the earthquake. Human losses measured by the incidence of death or injury and economic losses proxied by the level of house damage in a respondent’s family were found to be significant in the decline in the annual test scores of the respondents. Because secondary schools are usually not very close for most of the students in rural mountainous communities, we controlled for time taken to reach school, which was also found to significantly increase the magnitude of the drop in the test score. However, students’ level of happiness measured using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) and the mother’s level of education were found to be significant in reducing the magnitude of the drop in the test score of students. The findings suggest more support is needed for students who faced higher levels of human and economic loss in their family.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Academic Impacts of 2015 Nepal Earthquake: Evidence from Two Secondary Schools in Sindhupalchok District

Sapkota

Neupane

2021

Education Sciences

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“…Metcalfe, Powdthavee, and Dolan (2011) find that the September 11 attacks negatively affected SWB levels in the UK. More recently, scholars have started to assess the impacts of natural disasters, such as droughts (Carroll, Frijters, and Shields 2009;Lohmann, Pondorfer, and Rehdanz 2019), earthquakes (Sapkota 2018), flood events (Luechinger and Raschky 2009;Maddison and Rehdanz 2011;Sekulova and Van den Bergh 2016;von Möllendorff and Hirschfeld 2016;Ahmadiani and Ferreira 2021), forest fires (Kountouris and Remoundou 2011;Ambrey, Fleming, and Manning 2017), or storms (Kimball et al 2006;von Möllendorff and Hirschfeld 2016;Ahmadiani and Ferreira 2021) on SWB. Most of these studies find that such potentially traumatic events have a negative impact on SWB.…”

Section: Shocks and Subjective Well-being In The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Direct Shock Experience vs. Tangential Shock Exposure: Indirect Effects of Flood Shocks on Well-Being and Preferences

Stein,

Weisser

2022

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With extreme weather events on the rise, the question of how witnessing adverse weather events may affect individuals' perception, and consequently their subjective well-being, gains in relevance. To identify events that have been witnessed, i.e., tangential exposure to a weather shock, satellite-based data on flooding is linked to an extensive household panel survey from rural Southeast Asia. Contrasting direct shock experience with tangential shock exposure, we find that mere proximity to a potentially adverse shock, without reporting any actual direct shock experience, could be sufficient to reduce subjective well-being. This effect is not only restricted to the present but can also impinge on expected future well-being dynamics. Eventually, such a persistent effect from witnessing a weather shock may have further politico-economic repercussions, for instance, by altering support for redistribution policies.

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“…Subjective well-being and happiness are interchangeably used terms, and this study has used the OHQ to assess the subjective well-being of the respondents. The OHQ is used widely in various settings, such as rural and urban areas and developing and developed countries [44][45][46][47]. As the survey was conducted in the Nepali language, the OHQ was translated into Nepali, which might have caused some discrepancies in the meaning of the statements.…”

Section: Assessing Subjective Well-being-happinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake: Evidence from Two Household Surveys in One of the Hardest-Hit Mountain Villages

2021

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Nepal was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25 April 2015, followed by numerous aftershocks, including a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on 26 April and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on 12 May. Using two household surveys of a panel of 377 households conducted in February 2016 and March 2020 in one of the hardest-hit mountain villages, we found that most of the households recovered well, having better housing, increased income, improved awareness about disaster risk, and better infrastructure facilities than before the earthquake. Notably, the poverty headcount index reduced by 16% from 2016 to 2020, and more than 90% of the households reconstructed into earthquake-resistant houses with financial and technical support, mainly, from the government. The village has increased the quality and length of rural roads; there is also wider coverage of clean water supply and better functioning school buildings and hospitals. Similarly, the subjective well-being of the people, gauged using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), has also increased. These aspects combined indicate improved community resilience and the sustainable development of the village. However, the progress differs significantly across gender, caste/ethnic as well as income groups, which calls for inclusive reconstruction and recovery policies as well as disaster risk reduction (DRR) frameworks at a local level to contribute to community resilience and sustainable mountain development.

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Human well-being after 2015 Nepal earthquake: micro-evidence from one of the hardest hit rural villages

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

The Academic Impacts of 2015 Nepal Earthquake: Evidence from Two Secondary Schools in Sindhupalchok District

The Academic Impacts of 2015 Nepal Earthquake: Evidence from Two Secondary Schools in Sindhupalchok District

Direct Shock Experience vs. Tangential Shock Exposure: Indirect Effects of Flood Shocks on Well-Being and Preferences

Progress after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake: Evidence from Two Household Surveys in One of the Hardest-Hit Mountain Villages

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