Beschreibung:
Despite a growing number of studies on the effects of tropical cyclones on economic growth, not much is known about their effects on income inequality. This paper addresses this question by using a panel data set of U.S. counties affected during the period 2010 - 2019. It exploits geophysical information to construct the disaster intensity predictor, and shows that storms shocks significantly decrease local income inequality levels in the year that they occur. A close study of the composition effects reveals several interesting patterns. First, the immediate impact is driven by the two lowest quintiles of the income distribution. Second, the beneficial effects on income inequality are stabilized in the short-run. Hence, among others, this study stresses the importance of social safety nets in counteracting tropical cyclones' adverse income distributional effects. Finally, the frequency of events is a crucial parameter to consider as counties located in rarely exposed states and those located in repeatedly exposed ones are those providing efficient responses after a cyclone strike