Abstract
Exploiting the exogenous and regional nature of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, this article provides a quantification of the role of input-output linkages as a mechanism for the propagation and amplification of shocks. We document that the disruption caused by the disaster propagated upstream and downstream along supply chains, affecting the direct and indirect suppliers and customers of disaster-stricken firms. Using a general equilibrium model of production networks, we then obtain an estimate for the overall macroeconomic impact of the disaster by taking these propagation effects into account. We find that the earthquake and its aftermaths resulted in a 0.47 percentage point decline in Japan's real GDP growth in the year following the disaster.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1255-1321 |
| Number of pages | 67 |
| Journal | Quarterly Journal of Economics |
| Volume | 136 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2021 |
Funding
the financial support of the European Research Council under the grant \"Production Networks in Macroeconomics\" (no. RG72699)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics