This paper exploits a recent natural experiment to analyze the effect of volcanic eruptions on tourism expenditure. Using a Difference-in-Differences methodology, we find that volcanic eruptions have a positive impact on tourism expenditure, both aggregate expenditure and expenditure by category, and both during the eruption and the post-eruption period. We investigate the mechanisms behind the increase in expenditure and obtain strong support for the empathy mechanism, prevailing over other mechanisms such as changes in prices, the profile of tourists, or simply curiosity. Our results suggest that tourist empathy with the affected community manifests through consumption, finding that prosocial consumption increases in the cultural identification of the tourist with the affected area.

中文翻译：

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火山爆发与旅游亲社会消费

本文利用最近的自然实验来分析火山爆发对旅游支出的影响。使用双重差分法，我们发现火山喷发对旅游支出产生积极影响，无论是总体支出还是按类别支出，以及火山喷发期间和喷发后的支出。我们调查支出增加背后的机制，并获得对同理心机制的强有力支持，该机制胜过价格变化、游客概况或纯粹的好奇心等其他机制。我们的研究结果表明，游客对受影响社区的同理心通过消费体现出来，发现亲社会消费增加了游客对受影响地区的文化认同。