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Research on the economics of natural disasters has not kept up with the tremendous impacts of these phenomena on people's lives. However, large scale events such as Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami in Asia and the more recent 2008 hurricane in Myanmar and earthquake in Sichuan, China, have sparked new interest in the field. This book brings together the work of academic researchers and practitioners covering methodological aspects of measuring natural disasters as well as relevant macro and microeconomic theory and evidence, trying to put forward a research agenda and policy options for the next decade. The book has two parts. Part I first provides an overview of the general trends in natural disasters and their effects, and later focuses on a critical analysis of different methodologies to assess the economic impact of natural disasters, as well as on the ex-ante and ex-post mechanisms to deal with the effects of disasters and the relationship between extreme natural events and climate change. Part II covers six case studies from both the developed and the developing world, and from three different continents: Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Nicaragua, Japan and the Netherlands. Using both country-level data and household surveys, these case studies analyse and quantify the impact of natural hazards - hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, among other types of disasters - on household welfare and macroeconomic performance. This is an indispensible volume for researchers, academics and policy professionals addressing the short and long term economic effects of natural disasters.