Browsing by Author "De Alwis, Diana"

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The cost of being under the weather: Droughts, floods, and health care costs in Sri Lanka
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2017) De Alwis, Diana; Noy, Ilan
We measure the cost of extreme weather events (droughts and floods) on health care in Sri Lanka. We find that frequently occurring local floods and droughts impose a significant risk to health when individuals are exposed directly to these hazards, and when their communities are exposed, even if they themselves are unaffected. Those impacts, and especially the indirect spillover effects to households that are not directly affected, are associated with the land-use in the affected regions and with access to sanitation and hygiene. Finally, both direct and indirect risks associated with flood and drought on health have an economic cost; our estimates suggest Sri Lanka spends 52.8 million USD per year directly on the health care costs associated with floods and droughts, divided almost equally between the public and household sectors, and 22% vs. 78% between floods and droughts, respectively. In Sri Lanka, both the frequency and the intensity of droughts and floods are likely to increase because of climatic change. Consequently, the health burden associated with these events is only likely to increase, demanding precious resources that are required elsewhere.
Open Access
Distributional impacts of disaster recovery: Sri Lankan households a decade after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2018) De Alwis, Diana
This paper investigates the impact of recovery from the 2004 tsunami on income and consumption distribution across households in Sri Lanka, using a quasi-quantile regression method and other inequality measures. The analysis finds that the income of households in the entire distribution has recovered, with low-income households increasing their income by a higher proportion compared to the higher income households. The paper also observes that the affected regions appear more income-equal ex-post compared to the unaffected regions. Household consumption recovered in short and medium-term favoring both high and low-income households compared to those in the middle-income category. Nonetheless, long-lasting recovery of consumption appears only among high income households.
Open Access
Sri Lankan households a decade after the Indian Ocean tsunami
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2016) De Alwis, Diana; Noy, Ilan
We estimate the causal effect of the Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka on household income and consumption eight years after the event, using a quasi-experimental method. A strong association between area-wide tsunami disaster shock and increases in household income and consumption in the long-term emerged from our empirical investigation. Deviating from the common observation on short-term impacts, these results are suggestive of an optimistic potential for some long-lasting potentially successful recovery scenarios. Still, Sri Lanka received a very large amount of external transfers post-tsunami, much larger than is typical for disaster events and one which may not be replicable in other cases. Our findings suggest a more nuanced picture with respect to household consumption impacts. We observe a reduction of food consumption and only find an increase in non-food consumption. The increase in non-food consumption is much smaller than the observed increase in income. We also find that households in high-income regions experienced much better recovery from the disaster.