Couharde, C., Damette, O., Generoso, R., Mohaddes, K.

The Growth Effects of El Niño and La Niña: Local Weather Conditions Matter

CWPE1992

Abstract: This paper contributes to the climate-economy literature by analysing the role of weather patterns in influencing the transmission of global climate cycles to economic growth. More specifically, we focus on El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and their interactions with local weather conditions, taking into account the heterogeneous and cumulative effects of weather patterns on economic growth and the asymmetry and nonlinearity in the global influence of ENSO on economic activity. Using data on 75 countries over the period 1975-2014, we provide evidence for the negative growth effects of ENSO events and show that there are substantial differences between its warm (El Niño) and cold (La Niña) phases and between climate zones. These differences are due to the heterogeneity in weather responses to ENSO events, known as teleconnections, which has so far not been taken into account by economists, and which will become more important in the climate-economy relationship given that climate change may substantially strengthen long-distance relationships between weather patterns around the world. We also show that the negative growth effects associated with these teleconnections are robust to the definition of ENSO events and more important over shorter meteorological onsets.

Keywords: Economic growth, ENSO events, weather shocks, climate change

JEL Codes: C33 O40 Q54

Author links: Kamiar Mohaddes  

PDF: https://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/research-files/repec/cam/pdf/cwpe1992.pdf

Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.46547

Published Version of Paper: The Growth Effects of El Niño and La Niña: Local Weather Conditions Matter, Couharde, C., Damette, O., Generoso, R. and Mohaddes, K., Annals of Economics and Statistics (2020)

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