SSRN-Do Voters Appreciate Responsive Governments? Evidence from Indian Disaster Relief by Shawn Cole, Andrew Healy, Eric Werker

Not sure if this is a finance paper or a BonaResponds paper, but I found it interesting. Note it was written way before the recent election and is a good reason for governments to respond quickly (and to allow volunteer groups to do so too!) to disasters.

SSRN-Do Voters Appreciate Responsive Governments? Evidence from Indian Disaster Relief by Shawn Cole, Andrew Healy, Eric Werker:

"Using rainfall, public relief, and election data from India, we examine how governments respond to adverse shocks and how voters react to these responses. The data show that voters punish the incumbent party for weather events beyond its control. However, we find evidence that fewer voters punish the ruling party when the party responds vigorously to the crisis. Moreover, severe crises are associated with increased voter sensitivity to disaster assistance. These results are consistent with models of government accountability, and provide an explanation for Amartya Sen's claim that democratic governments respond better to salient emergencies than to less conspicuous ones. Even so, the results suggest that even the most responsive government will fare worse in the subsequent election than had there been no disaster."