Financial market responses to a natural disaster: Evidence from credit networks and the Indian Ocean tsunami
研究了2004年印度洋海啸后，印度南部沿海地区轮转储蓄与信贷协会（Roscas）中资金分配的变化，发现资金供给稳定但企业家需求增加，资金从工薪阶层和商业投资者流向企业家。
We examine changes in financial allocations in Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (Roscas), a popular group-based financial institution world-wide, in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. With financial data from locations along the South Indian coast we estimate the causal effect of this major natural disaster on financial flows between occupational groups, the price of credit and other loan characteristics. We find that the supply of funds in these credit networks remained remarkably stable, while demand by small and medium-scale entrepreneurs increased significantly. In response, substantial funds were channeled from wage-employed members and commercial investors to entrepreneurs. We conclude that natural disasters affect individuals with substantial heterogeneity and that the Roscas we study offer more scope for gains from trade in response to a seemingly aggregate shock than commonly assumed for traditional credit and insurance networks.