Title: Role of economic development and the government on flood impact in India

Authors: Yashobanta Parida; Swati Saini; Prarthna Agarwal Goel; Prakash Kumar Sahoo

Addresses: Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067, India; Verghese Kurien Centre for Excellence, Institute of Rural Management Anand, 388001, India ' Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067, India; Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, 110003, India ' Department of Economics, University School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Dwarka, 110078, New Delhi; Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India ' Vikram Deb (Autonomous) College, Berhampur University, Odisha, 764001, India

Abstract: This paper examines the role of economic development and government on mitigating flood impact in India during the period of 1980-2011. The empirical estimates reveal that there exists an inverse relationship between economic development (proxied by PCI) and flood impact measured in terms of flood fatalities and damages due to floods. Furthermore, the empirical results show that higher literacy rates lower flood fatalities. Government intervention (measured by indicators such as expenditure on irrigation and flood control and spending on medical care and public health) also minimises the impact of floods. The empirical results suggest that higher economic development and government intervention in the form of flood mitigation measures can help in mitigating the adverse impact of floods in developing economies like India.

Keywords: economic development; flood fatalities; flood damage; expenditure on flood control; ARDL estimates; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2020.113935

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2020 Vol.16 No.3, pp.213 - 230

Received: 23 Mar 2019
Accepted: 20 Apr 2020
Published online: 02 Apr 2021 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article