Book Co-Edited by JiYoung Park Assesses Potential Economic Impact of Terrorist Attacks and Natural Disasters

JiYoung Park, associate professor of urban and regional planning, is co-editor of a recently published book on the potential impact of terrorist and natural disaster events on local, regional and national economies. 

National Economic Impact Analysis of Terrorist Attacks And Natural Disasters is co-edited by Harry W. Richardson of the UniversidadAutonoma del Estado de Mexico; James E. Moore, II, of the University of Southern California; and Qisheng Pan of Texas Southern University.

Included in the book’s analyses are potential attacks on theme parks, sporting events, bridges and tunnels in the national highway system, as well as attempts to shoot down airplanes or spread foot-and-mouth disease. 

The publication advances a computational model that assesses multi-scalar economic impacts of both simulated and actual events. The highly accurate model - called NIEMO (The National Interstate Economic Model) - calculates impacts based on an event's direct and indirect influence on interindustry relationships and interregional trade.

Almost all natural disasters examined in the book are real-world, including Hurricane Katrina, the Joplin Tornado, the Gulf Oil Spill and Hurricane Sandy. The authors also study the possible state economic effects of international bridge closures due to a global pandemic.

The publication is intended as a resource for policy-makers as well as students and practitioners of regional science, planning, economics and geography. 

An expert on urban economics and transportation modeling related to natural and man-made environmental and security problems, Park has also published research on the economic implications of the Canada-U.S. border bridges and the macroeconomic impacts of unconventional oil drilling, including hydraulic fracturing, in California.