This paper presents a modeling framework for macroeconomic growth dynamics; it is motivated by recent attempts to formulate and study 'integrated models' of the coupling between natural and socio-economic phenomena. The challenge is to describe the interfaces between human activities and the...

Large-scale disasters regularly affect societies over the globe, causing large destruction and damage. After each of these events, media, insurance companies, and international institutions publish numerous assessments of the “cost of the disaster.” However these assessments are based on...

Assuming that capital productivity is higher in areas at risk from natural hazards (such as coastal zones or flood plains), this paper shows that rapid development in these areas-and the resulting increase in disaster losses-may be the consequence of a rational and well-informed trade-off...