Natural disasters, aggregate trade resilience, and local disruptions: Evidence from Hurricane Katrina

What drives the resilience of international trade against increasingly destructive natural disasters? In this study, I investigate the dynamics and spatial distribution of Hurricane Katrina's trade effects across United States infrastructure and break new ground on the mechanisms underlying the static and dynamic trade resilience. Analyzing port‐level data, I find that ports subject to this calamity experience significant and lasting trade reductions, while export and import shipments handled by the adjacent ports exhibit significant increases. Interestingly, the duration of this rerouting effect is persistent for 8 years uncovering novel path dependencies and providing important policy insights in light of recent events.