Driving Effects and Spatial-Temporal Variations in Economic Losses Due to Flood Disasters in China

Abstract

The economic loss caused by frequent flood disasters poses a great threat to China’s economic prosperity. This study analyzes the driving factors of flood-related economic losses in China. We used the extended Kaya identity to establish a factor decomposition model and the logarithmic mean Divisia index decomposition method to identify five flood-related driving effects for economic loss: demographic effect, economic effect, flash flood disaster control effect, capital efficiency effect, and loss-rainfall effect. Among these factors, the flash flood disaster control effect most obviously reduced flood-related economic losses. Considering the weak foundation of flash flood disaster prevention and control in China, non-engineering measures for flash flood prevention and control have been implemented since 2010, achieving remarkable results. Influenced by these measures, the loss-rainfall effect also showed reduction output characteristics. The demographic, economic, and capital efficiency effects showed incremental effect characteristics. China’s current economic growth leads to an increase in flood control pressure, thus explaining the incremental effect of the economic effect. This study discusses the relationship between flood-related economic loss and flash flood disaster prevention and control in China, adding value for the adjustment and formulation of future flood disaster prevention policies.