Do Post-disaster Reconstruction Investments Contribute to Improved Community Well-being?

This study analyzes whether produced capital investment in post-disaster reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake has improved residents’ well-being, using produced capital data from municipalities between 2010 and 2015 combined with large-scale online survey data collected in 2015. The results show that among the areas more severely damaged by the earthquake, increased investment in produced capital has not improved residents’ well-being. However, increases in social capital stock, such as public housing investments, may have improved residents’ well-being after the disaster. The results contribute to a better understanding of how local and central governments should implement public and private reconstruction investment from the perspective of well-being in the aftermath of future earthquakes.