Do Risk Preferences Change? Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 10,
no. 2, April 2018
(pp. 298-330)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
We investigate whether individuals' risk preferences change after experiencing a natural disaster, specifically, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Exploiting the panels of nationally representative surveys on risk preferences, we find that men who experienced greater intensity of the earthquake became more risk tolerant a year after the Earthquake. Interestingly, the effects on men's risk preferences are persistent even five years after the Earthquake at almost the same magnitude as those shortly after the Earthquake. Furthermore, these men gamble more, which is consistent with the direction of changes in risk preferences. We find no such pattern for women.Citation
Hanaoka, Chie, Hitoshi Shigeoka, and Yasutora Watanabe. 2018. "Do Risk Preferences Change? Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 10 (2): 298-330. DOI: 10.1257/app.20170048Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
- D81 Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- Q54 Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming
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