@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp17907,
            	author={Budría, Santiago and Betancourt-Odio, Alejandro and Fonseca, Marlene},
            	title={Resilience in the Wake of Disaster: The Role of Social Capital in Mitigating Long-Term Well-Being Losses},
            	year={2025},
	month={May},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={17907},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp17907},
	abstract={Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of weather-related natural disasters. These events generate significant monetary and non-monetary costs, undermining individual and societal well-being. Using a nationally representative longitudinal dataset from Australia, this study explores the dynamics of well-being before, during, and after natural disasters, with a particular focus on the mediating role of social capital. We employ an event-study design with individual fixed effects to capture both immediate and long-term effects of natural disasters on four critical dimensions of well-being: financial satisfaction, safety satisfaction, mental health, and psychological distress. Our findings reveal that the adverse impacts of natural disasters are profound and long-lasting, persisting in some cases for over 6–7 years, with well-being implications exceeding $1,500,000 in equivalent losses. We find that social capital emerges as a powerful buffer, significantly mitigating declines in safety satisfaction and mental health while reducing psychological distress both during and after disasters.},
	keywords={well-being;panel fixed-effects;hedonic adaptation;psychological distress;mental health},
            }