Saving Lives with Indexed Disaster Funds: Evidence from Mexico
利用墨西哥指数化灾害基金（Fonden）的资格规则断点，研究发现加速重建公共基础设施能显著减少灾害死亡，且该基金成本效益比至少为3.2。
Developing economies are not disproportionately exposed to natural disasters, but they experience significantly more deaths. Exploiting a discontinuity in the eligibility rules for Mexico’s indexed disaster fund (Fonden), I show that the accelerated reconstruction of public infrastructure can significantly mitigate the mortality impacts of disasters. Fonden’s impact is concentrated in areas with medical infrastructure and among conditions responsive to basic and freely available medical care. These findings suggest that Fonden operates by restoring access to health services. I also show that Fonden is cost-effective relative to other interventions and that its benefit–cost ratio is at least 3.2.