TY - JOUR
T1 - Well-being effects of a major natural disaster
T2 - The case of Fukushima
AU - Rehdanz, Katrin
AU - Welsch, Heinz
AU - Narita, Daiju
AU - Okubo, Toshihiro
N1 - Funding Information:
Information is taken from the Database on the Research of Radioactive Substances Distribution provided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ( http://radb.jaea.go.jp/mapdb/en/ ). The average of total cesium-134 and -137 depositions per municipality on 29 April 2011 was used. This is the earliest day after the accident for which data of large-scale airborne measurements are available.
Funding Information:
We would like to thank Susana Ferreira, Arik Levinson, David Maddison, Uwe Jensen and two anonymous referees for helpful comments on an earlier version of the paper. The data analysis in this paper utilizes Keio Household Panel Survey (KHPS) data provided by the Panel Data Research Center at Keio University. For Heinz Welsch financial support by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy is acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2015/8/1
Y1 - 2015/8/1
N2 - Based on a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach, we use panel data for 5979 individuals interviewed in Japan before and after the tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima to analyze the effects of the combined disaster on people's subjective well-being. To conduct our analysis, we use Geographical Information Systems to merge the subjective well-being data with information on respondents' distance from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, their proximity to nuclear power stations in general, and the spatial distribution of radioactive fallout after the accident. Our main findings are as follows: (1) After the disaster, people living in a place affected by the tsunami or close to the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant experienced a drop in life happiness, while the effects declined with distance to the place of the disaster. (2) No change in subjective well-being is detectable in people living close to nuclear facilities in general. (3) In contrast to happiness with life after the disaster, no effect on people's happiness with their entire life can be found among those affected by the disaster. (4) The drop in life happiness in municipalities affected by the tsunami is equivalent to 72% of annual income and reaches 240% for those living in close distance to the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant (≤150 km).
AB - Based on a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach, we use panel data for 5979 individuals interviewed in Japan before and after the tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima to analyze the effects of the combined disaster on people's subjective well-being. To conduct our analysis, we use Geographical Information Systems to merge the subjective well-being data with information on respondents' distance from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, their proximity to nuclear power stations in general, and the spatial distribution of radioactive fallout after the accident. Our main findings are as follows: (1) After the disaster, people living in a place affected by the tsunami or close to the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant experienced a drop in life happiness, while the effects declined with distance to the place of the disaster. (2) No change in subjective well-being is detectable in people living close to nuclear facilities in general. (3) In contrast to happiness with life after the disaster, no effect on people's happiness with their entire life can be found among those affected by the disaster. (4) The drop in life happiness in municipalities affected by the tsunami is equivalent to 72% of annual income and reaches 240% for those living in close distance to the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant (≤150 km).
KW - Difference-in-differences
KW - Fukushima
KW - Natural disaster
KW - Nuclear accident
KW - Subjective well-being
KW - Willingness to pay
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jebo.2015.05.014
DO - 10.1016/j.jebo.2015.05.014
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84934985285
VL - 116
SP - 500
EP - 517
JO - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
JF - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
SN - 0167-2681
ER -