Price shocks in disaster: the Great Kantō Earthquake in Japan,1923

Hunter, Janet and Ogasawara, Kota (2016) Price shocks in disaster: the Great Kantō Earthquake in Japan,1923. Economic History Working Papers (253/2016). London School of Economics and Political Science, Economic History Department, London, UK.

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Abstract

This paper tests the operation of markets in the wake of a sudden exogenous shock in prewar Japan, the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923. Using a unique monthly wholesale price dataset of provincial cities, we found that the earthquake had a positive impact on the price of rice and timber in the sample cities. Our results also indicate that the wholesale price of rice in cities in the northeast of Japan, which were more closely integrated with the affected region, experienced more significant price rises than those in western Japan. Nevertheless, although further research using retail as opposed to wholesale prices of goods is needed, these preliminary findings suggest that the diffusion of price instability outwards from the affected region was on a lesser scale than might have been expected.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Official URL:	http://www.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/home.aspx
Additional Information:	© 2016 The Authors
Divisions:	Economic History
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS Asia H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
JEL classification:	N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations > N15 - Asia including Middle East N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income, and Wealth > N35 - Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income and Wealth: Asia including Middle East N - Economic History > N4 - Government, War, Law, and Regulation > N45 - Asia including Middle East N - Economic History > N9 - Regional and Urban History > N95 - Asia including Middle East Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics
Date Deposited:	14 Dec 2016 12:22
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2024 20:36
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/68618

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