Human Capital Investment after the Storm

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gallagher, Emily A.; Billings, Stephen B.; Ricketts, Lowell R.
• 署名单位: University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Boulder; Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - St. Louis
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0893-9454
• DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhad003
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 2651
• 关键词: LONG-TERM OUTCOMES; credit constraints; housing wealth; HURRICANE-KATRINA; college; consumption; education; returns

摘要

How does household exposure to a natural disaster affect higher education investments? Using variation in flooding from Hurricane Harvey (2017), we find that college-aged adults from flooded blocks in Houston are 7% less likely than counterparts to have student loans after Harvey, with larger effects in areas with more potential first-generation students. We find a similar relative decline in enrollment at more exposed Texas universities and colleges and a shift toward majors with higher expected earnings. Our results highlight a decrease in the quantity but an increase in the intensity of investments in human capital after the storm.