Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide useful information for members of the weather community and policy makers, to help them understand the full scope of drought economic impacts and assessment methodologies, and to help determine the feasibility of future drought mitigation programs.Design/methodology/approachTo accomplish the objective, the paper reviews the literature of drought economic impact studies in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, summarizes the methods and data employed, compares the various results, and investigates the problems and limitations of previous studies.FindingsThe paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges and directions of future improvement on drought economic impact assessment.Originality/valueThis paper gives a comprehensive review of drought economic impacts and the associated quantitative assessment methodologies, which provides valuable information to rational decisions supporting drought mitigation policies and programs.