The tempest: Natural disasters, Early Shocks and Children's Short- and Long-Run Development

Socio-economic shocks during early childhood are predicted to have detrimental short- and long-run consequences for children's development. We examine this hypothesis using a specific shock: housing damages caused by a super-typhoon. Comparing children, who lived in the same district, but only some experienced housing damages, we can isolate the real-estate shock from any further arising macro-economic consequences. Our results reveal detrimental effects on children's education - not, however, on health - which aggravate over time. Yet, these findings are driven by children whose families are at the bottom of the wealth distribution or lack the support of a family network.