A Storm in a Teacup? Hurricanes and Sugar Prices in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Sami Bensassi, Preeya Mohan*, Eric Strobl

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of hurricanes in the Caribbean on sugar prices in Britain between 1815 and 1841. The authors expect the news of hurricanes arriving at British harbors to drive up sugar prices mainly because the market anticipated that the supply of sugar from the Caribbean colonies would drop dramatically in the near future. The econometric results suggest a significant rise in prices due to hurricanes. Moreover this study finds that the lag between the hurricane strike and its transmission into sugar prices on the London market decreased over the sample period. This latter result might be explained by the technological innovations marking this era, where technological progress in transport reduced the time required for information to cross the Atlantic, making markets more reactive to the news of supply shocks.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)753-768
Number of pages16
JournalWeather, Climate, and Society
Volume9
Issue number4
Early online date20 Sept 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2017

Keywords

  • Social Science
  • tropics
  • Hurricanes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Atmospheric Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Storm in a Teacup? Hurricanes and Sugar Prices in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this