Earthquake propensity and the politics of mortality prevention
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Material Information

Title:
Earthquake propensity and the politics of mortality prevention
Creator:
Keefer, Philip
Neumayer, Eric
Plümper, Thomas
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU) ( summary contributor )
Place of Publication:
Washington, D.C.
Publisher:
The World Bank
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2009
Language:
English
Physical Description:
International government publication

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Natural hazards and disasters -- Earthquake ( lcshac )
Mortality ( lcshac )
Democracy ( lcshac )
Risk management ( lcshac )
Public goods ( lcshac )
Political economy and development ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )

Notes

Summary:
This document sets out to determine why more states have not invested in the implementation and enforcement of quakeproof construction regulations even though they are known to reduce mortality considerably. The authors found that there are two main factors that determine whether or not a state will implement and enforce such regulations: “country income and the political incentives of governments to provide public goods to citizens” (p. ii). The frequency and intensity of past earthquakes are also additional determinants. Through the use of negative binomial statistical analysis that focused on states in earthquake prone areas from the period 1960 to 2008, the authors found that poorer countries invested less than richer countries in earthquake mortality prevention measures. Furthermore, they found that newly democratic states, less institutionalized autocratic states, and states plagued by corruption, which tend to have less incentive to provide public goods to citizens than non-corrupt established democracies and more institutionalized autocracies, also invested less in the implementation and enforcement of quake-proof construction regulations. Thus, they concluded that these categories of states would and have experienced the greatest death tolls associated with any magnitude earthquake. The authors noted that there were limitations in their choice of variables for analysis. However, it is likely that their argument would have been strengthened if they were able to include blended variables of income and political incentives (income x and type of government/state) in their varied combinations as part of their analysis.
Subject:
General Disaster Risk Reduction ( English )
Citation/Reference:
Keefer, P., Neumayer, E., Plümper, T. (2009). Earthquake propensity and the politics of mortality prevention. The World Bank, London School of Economics, University of Essex.

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI13042692
778847160 ( oclc )

dpSobek Membership

Aggregations:
Disaster Risk Reduction