Title: Natural Disasters and Human Online Behavior

Speaker: Haifeng Xu (Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Time: 10:30 (Wednesday), November 26th, 2025

Venue: Room 706, Mingde Business Building (Zhongguancun Campus)

Language：Chinese/ English

ABSTRACT:

Natural disasters not only cause physical and economic devastation but also reshape human online behaviors. This study explores how natural disasters influence individuals’ prosocial microlending decision-making. Previous studies have investigated how various factors influence prosocial microlending decisions under normal circumstances. Nevertheless, a natural disaster may result in a situation where lenders can hardly find appropriate loans from the disaster-affected region. When faced with the mismatch between the supply and demand of microloans, lenders can either simply choose not to make any contributions or divert their prosocial intentions towards a different group of beneficiaries. Using a natural experiment based on the Ebola outbreak in Africa, our research shows that a natural disaster increases (over the short-term) the average contribution size and decreases (over the long-term) the average fundraising time per dollar for prosocial microloans by borrowers from regions closer to the affected region. In contrast, a natural disaster decreases (over the long-term) the average contribution size and increases (over the long-term) the average fundraising time per dollar for prosocial microloans by borrowers from regions further away from the affected region. This redistribution of prosocial microlending is an unintended consequence of a natural disaster that inflicts long-term economic hardship in some regions. Policymakers and researchers should closely monitor the redistribution of prosocial microlending resulting from a natural disaster so that prompt action can be taken to alleviate potential negative consequences that may arise.