## Why Some Don’t Belong—The Distributional Effects of Natural Disasters

_IMF Working Papers, January 6, 2023_

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**Canonical URL:** [Why Some Don’t Belong—The Distributional Effects of Natural Disasters](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2023/01/07/why-some-dont-belong-the-distributional-effects-of-natural-disasters-527859)

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Nina Budina, Lixue Chen, Laura Nowzohour
- Published: January 6, 2023
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400229428.001

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### Overview and Research Question
- Examines when and how natural disasters worsen within-country income inequality.
- Highlights channels through which natural disasters may have distributional effects.
- Empirically analyzes which types of disasters affect inequality in advanced economies (AEs) and in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs).

### Key Findings
- In AEs, inequality increases after severe disasters.
- Inequality increases if severe disasters are associated with growth slowdowns in AEs and in EMDEs.
- Inequality increases if there are multiple disasters in a year in AEs and in EMDEs.
- Descriptive evidence for the United States suggests that adverse labor market effects of disasters are likely to fall on vulnerable groups.

### Subjects and Keywords
- Subject: Economic sectors, Environment, Financial crises, Income distribution, Income inequality, Labor, Labor markets, National accounts, Natural disasters, Population and demographics
- Keywords: Caribbean, distributional effect, effects of disaster, Income distribution, Income inequality, inequality effect, labor market effect, Labor markets, Natural disasters, projections estimate, Sub-Saharan Africa

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2023/01/07/why-some-dont-belong-the-distributional-effects-of-natural-disasters-527859_