CIRJE-F-602. Imaizumi, Asuka, Kaori Ito and Tetsuji Okazaki, "Impact of Natural Disasters on Industrial Agglomeration: A Case of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake", November 2008.

In this paper, the effect of a temporary shock on the industrial agglomeration was investigated, focusing on the case of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Using the ward and county-level data of Tokyo Prefecture, the persistence of the effect caused by the earthquake was examined. It was confirmed that the effect would finally dissipate, which is consistent with preceding literature. In addition, this paper investigated the persistence differences across industries, specifically the differences between the linkage-intensive industries, and the non-linkage-intensive industries. It was found that the effect of the temporary shock was more persistent in the linkage-intensive industries, which suggests that the there was at least an endogenous portion in the mechanism of industrial agglomeration.