Effects of post-disaster aid measures to firms: Evidence from Tohoku university earthquake recovery firm survey 2012–2015

Panel data of individual firms are a valuable source of information on the disaster resilience of the regional economy. Such data also helps to assess the effectiveness of government aids to recovery. Every year after the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011, from 2012 to 2015, Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Economics and Management conducted the Tohoku University Earthquake Recovery Firm Survey (TERFS) to obtain such information. The survey collected 25,826 responses over the 4-year period from a total of 11,090 firms in the east Tohoku region, the most severely affected region. Based on this survey, this paper assesses the effects of the conventional and new government recovery aid measures introduced to help firms affected by the disaster on the levels of business activity. The paper finds that group subsidy and debt reduction had important roles in the recovery of business activities, and demonstrates the importance of a panel survey in understanding and guiding policies for the resilience of the regional economy.