Local Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters*

This research uses time-series analysis under a quasi-experimental pair-wise matching design to examine local economic impacts of the 1993 Midwest flood. The data support the concept of overall local economic resiliency to natural disasters. The flood's impacts on total employment were minimal. Although significant drops in personal income were observed in the year of the event, the long-run effects seemed to be negligible. This study also finds that the flood's negative impacts on agriculture were significant and long lasting to some Midwestern communities. The findings are quite stable with respect to the number of controls selected for each treated unit.