Citation

Haque A, Jahan S. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 2015; 13: 266-275.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.07.001

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Based on secondary data, this research investigates induced effects of flood disaster scenarios on national and regional output, income and employment through Input-Output model. It traces direct damages and corresponding change in consumer spending and public/private investment during Floods of 2004 and 2007, and estimates the interaction of various economic sectors for six regions of Bangladesh. The study finds that though direct flood damages devastate the economy of Bangladesh, the nation ultimately overcome the adverse impacts by changing consumer behavior and employing diversified investment options. The results indicate that Dhaka, Rajshahi and Sylhet are more vulnerable to flood disasters compared to coastal regions, i.e. Barisal, Chittagong and Khulna, of Bangladesh. Dhaka and Rajshahi faced major output loss, while Sylhet faced noteworthy income and employment loss due to flood disasters. The study finds Barisal as the least affected region. Loss of output and employment is maximum for agriculture sector for any region and most importantly such higher order effects are unrecoverable through current state of public/private investment. Present state of consumer spending and public/private investment, however, have helped industry and construction sector to recover from flood damages. The study recommends to explore alternate employment opportunities against output, income and employment loss of agriculture sector. It urges to consider regional variation while taking different measures to tackle flood disaster.