Risks, ex-ante actions, and public assistance: Impacts of natural disasters on child schooling in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Malawi

This paper examines the impacts of
\n natural disasters on schooling investments with special
\n focus on the roles of ex-ante actions and ex-post responses
\n using panel data from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Malawi. The
\n importance of ex-ante actions depends on disaster risks and
\n the likelihood of public assistance, which potentially
\n creates substitution between the two actions. The findings
\n show that higher future probabilities of disasters increase
\n the likelihood of holding more human capital and/or
\n livestock relative to land, and this asset-portfolio effect
\n is significant in disaster prone areas. The empirical
\n results support the roles of both ex-ante and ex-post
\n responses (public assistance) in coping with disasters, but
\n also show interesting variations across countries. In
\n Ethiopia, public assistance plays a more important role…