The Influence of Natural and Technological Disasters on Unemployment in Pakistan

Shah Mehmood Wagan, Sidra Sidra

Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

Abstract

Natural and technological disasters have a significant impact on unemployment in Pakistan and are an important factor in economic instability. Pakistan's economy is now going through a critical phase of instability. The current government has to deal with a number of economic and social challenges, such the high unemployment rate. The study hypothesizes that the number of deaths and the number of people affected by disasters have a significant impact on the unemployment rate, and this impact has a lag. The study examines Pakistan's economic statistics, focusing on its instability over the past 30 years. It uses Stata software for regression equations to examine unemployment rate, inflation, price index changes, technological disaster deaths, and natural disaster impact. The study reveals that the number of deaths from natural and technological disasters has an important positive impact on unemployment rates, suggesting that economic repercussions of such disasters may emerge after initial response phases. The authors failed to examine the impact of recent events on the labor market due to inaccessible data, a gap that could have been significant. This study pioneers an investigation into the effect of the influence of natural and technological disasters on unemployment. It fills a gap in research of the impact of disasters on unemployment rates in disaster economics and labor economics and emphasizes the lag of disaster impacts. It provides a scientific basis for the government and relevant agencies in formulating post-disaster reconstruction and employment policies and recommends strengthening disaster prevention and infrastructure construction to reduce the long-term negative impact of disasters on the economy.

Keywords

unemployment; natural disaster; technological disaster; inflation; labor force; Pakistan

JEL classification

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About Authors

Shah Mehmood Wagan

PhD Student, Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China (Wangjiang campus, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 610065); ORCID orcid.org/0009-0003-0449-2655 e-mail: shah.mehmood04@outlook.com

Sidra Sidra

Master Student, Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China (Wangjiang campus, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 610065); ORCID orcid.org/0009-0003-1689-3296 e-mail: sidra_scu@outlook.com

For citation

Wagan, S.M., Sidra, S. (2024). The Influence of Natural and Technological Disasters on Unemployment in Pakistan. Journal of Applied Economic Research, Vol. 23, No. 4, 929-950. doi.org/10.15826/vestnik.2024.23.4.037

Article info

Received August 9, 2024; Revised August 23, 2024; Accepted September 3, 2024.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/vestnik.2024.23.4.037

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