The impact of natural and manmade disasters on household welfare
综述了自然和人为灾害对家庭福利的影响，区分了事前风险管理和事后风险应对行为，并讨论了灾害保险设计的困难以及信贷在风险应对中的作用。
Abstract In this article, we provide selective evidence on the impact of natural and manmade disasters on household welfare. First, we consider ex ante risk management and ex post risk‐coping behaviors separately, showing evidence from the Asian economic crisis, earthquakes, and tsunami disasters. Second, we differentiate idiosyncratic risks from nondiversifiable aggregate risks that characterize a disaster. We also discuss the difficulties of designing index‐type insurance against natural disasters, which are often rare, unforeseen events. Then, we investigate the role of self‐insurance against large‐scale disasters under which formal or informal mutual insurance mechanisms are largely ineffective. Credit accessibility is identified as one of the key factors facilitating risk‐coping strategies.