PhD Seminar
Speaker: Diogo Jardim Goncalves
Title: Marital Investment when Disaster Strikes: Evidence from Indonesia
Format: Hybrid
Organisers: Derrick and Dipima
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of flood exposure on marital investment in Indonesia. By combining household survey data with highly precise satellite data, I leverage the geographical variation in flooding incidents across sub-districts of Indonesia and the within-sample variation in the timing of marriages to assess the impact of flood exposure on household socio-economic factors and three crucial aspects of marriage: (i) the number of marriages, (ii) the average age at marriage, and (iii) the average bride-price paid at marriages. Employing a two-way fixed effects model, this paper compares marital outcomes between couples residing in flood-affected sub-districts and those in unaffected sub-districts to shed light on how large-scale income shocks, brought about by climate change, shape marital arrangements and outcomes in a low-income context. Finally, this paper discusses mechanisms through which the increased prevalence of flooding, driven by the acceleration of climate change, may have long-lasting ramifications.