Natural disasters and social capital formation: The impact of the Great Hanshin‐Awaji earthquake

Yamamura, Eiji

doi:10.1111/pirs.12121

Cited by 49 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…A large number of young people volunteered to help in the rescue and cleanup in Kobe, which was hit directly by the earthquake. The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake greatly motivated people to volunteer (Yamamura 2014). A similar phenomenon was observed following the Great East Japan Earthquake.…”

Section: Overview Of the Great East Japan Earthquakementioning

confidence: 53%

Trust and Happiness: Comparative Study Before and After the Great East Japan Earthquake

et al. 2014

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The positive relationship between trust and happiness has been demonstrated by the literature. However, it is not clear how much this relationship depends on environmental conditions. The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 is considered one of the most catastrophic events in human history. This disaster caused not only physical damage for Japanese people, but also perceived damage. Using individual-level panel data from Japan covering the period 2009-2012, this paper attempts to probe how the relationship between trust and happiness was influenced by the Great East Japan Earthquake by comparing the same individuals before and after the earthquake. A fixed-effects estimation showed that there is a statistically well-determined positive relationship between trust and happiness and this relationship was strengthened by disaster, especially for residents in the damaged area. We argue that social trust is a substitute for formal institutions and markets, which mitigates the effect of disaster-related shock on psychological conditions such as happiness. Therefore, a trustful society is invulnerable to a gigantic disaster.

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Section: Overview Of the Great East Japan Earthquakementioning

confidence: 53%

Trust and Happiness: Comparative Study Before and After the Great East Japan Earthquake

et al. 2014

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“…Second, natural disasters appear to be positively correlated with some indicators of social capital (e.g., Yamamura, 2016). Critically, the relationship appears to depend on the e cacy of government response.…”

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confidence: 96%

Natural Disasters and Political Engagement: Evidence from the 2010–11 Pakistani Floods

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Malhotra³

et al. 2017

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The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Abstract How natural disasters a↵ect politics in developing countries is an important question given the fragility of fledgling democratic institutions in some of these countries as well as likely increased exposure to natural disasters over time due to climate change. Research in sociology and psychology suggests traumatic events can inspire pro-social behavior and therefore might increase political engagement. Research in political science argues that economic resources are critical for political engagement and thus the economic dislocation from disasters may dampen participation. We argue that when the government and civil society response e↵ectively blunts a disaster's economic impacts, then political engagement may increase as citizens learn about government capacity. Using diverse data from the massive 2010-11 Pakistan floods, we find that Pakistanis in highly flood-a↵ected areas turned out to vote at substantially higher rates three years later than those less exposed. We also provide speculative evidence on the mechanism. The increase in turnout was higher in areas with lower ex ante flood risk, which is consistent with a learning process. These results suggest that natural disasters may not necessarily undermine civil society in emerging developing democracies. (JEL: A12, D72, D74, I28, How do natural disasters a↵ect politics in developing countries? Addressing this question is important given the fragility of fledgling democratic institutions in some of these countries as well as likely increased exposure to natural disasters over time due to climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2013). The existing social science literature makes contradictory predictions. On the one hand, research from sociology and psychology suggests that traumatic events such as natural disasters can inspire pro-social behavior and therefore might increase political engagement (e.g., Bardo, 1978;Bolin and Stanford, 1998;Rodriguez, Trainor and Quarantelli, 2006;Toya and Skidmore, 2014). If this is the case, then disasters might enhance the quality of government by increasing accountability pressures and selecting for a higher-quality political class (e.g., Putnam, Leonardi and Nanetti, 1994;Besley, 2007). On the other hand, political scientists have argued that economic resources are critical ingredients for civic engagement (e.g., Verba, Schlozman and Brady, 1995). Kosec and Mo (2015) find that economic shocks resulting from natural disasters can reduce citizen aspiration levels, whic...

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“…Research by Toya and Skidmore (2014) and Yamamura (2014) is more closely connected to behavioral responses after disasters. They find that societal trust and social capital tend to increase following natural disasters.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk, Loss, and Ambiguity Aversion after a Natural Disaster

et al. 2017

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We use survey and experimental methods to examine how residents' risk, loss, and ambiguity aversion are affected by a tornado event. We survey residents of the Oklahoma City area where a 2013 tornado resulted in massive damage and 24 fatalities. Our evaluation shows that risk aversion increased for those who were injured by the tornado. However, persons who lost a friend or neighbor were emboldened, experiencing reduced risk aversion. Ambiguity aversion increased for those who lost their residence or had property damage, and loss aversion increased for those who lost a friend or neighbor. Risk preferences of individual citizens in disasters are affected in important and intricate ways, and these alterations may influence choices such as how and when to rebuild private homes, businesses and invest in a region's critical public infrastructure.

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Natural disasters and social capital formation: The impact of the Great Hanshin‐Awaji earthquake

Cited by 49 publications

References 39 publications

Trust and Happiness: Comparative Study Before and After the Great East Japan Earthquake

Trust and Happiness: Comparative Study Before and After the Great East Japan Earthquake

Natural Disasters and Political Engagement: Evidence from the 2010–11 Pakistani Floods

Risk, Loss, and Ambiguity Aversion after a Natural Disaster

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