Disasters and Economic Policy
Create a free account to unlock full content!
By registering, you agree to our Privacy Statement and Terms and Conditions.
Program Overview
ECON 361: Disasters and Economic Policy
Course Description
The economic aspects of disaster management and policy, including topics such as the economic history of natural disasters, the research literature on the economics of natural disasters, poverty and vulnerability, insurance, risk transfer, cost-benefit of mitigation, and other related topics.
Course Details
- Dates: 7 Jul 2025 to 9 Nov 2025
- Starts: Trimester 2
- Fees:
- NZ$962.40 for domestic students
- NZ$4,427.55 for international students
- Lecture start times: Tuesday 2.40pm
- Campus: Pipitea
- Estimated workload: Approximately 150 hours or 8.3 hours per week for 18 weeks
- Points: 15
Entry Restrictions
- Prerequisites: None
- Corequisites: None
- Restrictions: ECON 351
Taught by
School of Economics and Finance — Wellington School of Business and Government
Course Learning Objectives
Students who pass this course should be able to:
- Analyse the history of disasters and their differing economic impacts.
- Distinguish between direct, indirect, short, and long-run impacts on different facets of the economy and the micro and aggregate levels.
- Evaluate ex-ante mitigation policy and its cost-benefit.
- Appraise post-disaster interventions and their efficacy.
How this Course is Taught
This course is optimised for face-to-face delivery on campus. All lectures will be recorded and available throughout the course. There are no assessments requiring in-person attendance.
Assessment
- A 5-minute presentation: 30%
- Topic for presentation: 5%
- A short two-page paper: 20%
- Participation in class discussions: 5%
- Final 8-10 page research paper: 40%
Lecture Times and Rooms
- 7 July 2025 to 17 August 2025
- 1 September 2025 to 12 October 2025
What You'll Need to Get
You do not need to get any texts or equipment for this course.
About this Course
Possible topics to be covered include:
- History of disasters and their economic impact
- Prevention/Mitigation of disaster impact
- Vulnerability and resilience to disasters
- Disaster impact on poverty and inequality
- Political factors in determining vulnerability
- Post disaster growth, recovery, and reconstruction
- Long-run growth and disaster risk
- Fiscal policy and disaster risk management
- Insurance (implicitly and explicitly - fiscal, household)
- Climate change and disaster risk
- International aspects of disasters (migration, remittances, and aid)
- Human behaviour during and after disasters
- The precautionary principle and public policy for disaster risks