This study focuses on Vietnam, a nation prone to various natural disasters, including storms, typhoons, floods, flash floods, and landslides. Utilizing annual panel data from 2010 to 2020 at the provincial level, we conducted a panel data analysis of provincial natural disaster damage in monetary terms considering meteorological, hydrological, geographic, and socioeconomic factors, including elevation, terrain ruggedness index (TRI), precipitation, gross regional domestic product (GRDP) per capita, and agricultural GRDP. Our hybrid model results indicate that precipitation was a significant contributor to economic damage. Two geographical factors, elevation and TRI, also influenced it. Elevation was associated with a decrease in economic damage, while TRI was associated with an increase. Economic development, as indicated by GRDP per capita, was found to be associated with an increase in natural disaster damage at lower levels of GRDP per capita; however, this relationship shifted to one of decreasing damage after reaching a certain threshold in GRDP per capita. Provinces with higher agricultural GRDP tended to suffer greater damage, but within-province agricultural development was not statistically significant at the 5% level. This finding aligns with the understanding that crop farming and the aquaculture industry are more susceptible to natural disasters because they are more directly exposed to natural elements. This also implies that regions where agriculture comprises a significant share of the economy are less resilient to natural disasters. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers for sustainable economic development.
MICHINAKA et al. (Thu,) studied this question.