Why Do People Die in Earthquakes? The Costs, Benefits and Institutions of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries

Every year, around 60,000 people die worldwide in natural disasters. The majority of the deaths are caused by building collapse in earthquakes, and the great majority occurs in the developing world. This is despite the fact that engineering solutio...

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Main Author: Kenny, Charles
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
WAR
Online Access:http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090226130516
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4042
id okr-10986-4042
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-40422021-04-23T14:02:14Z Why Do People Die in Earthquakes? The Costs, Benefits and Institutions of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries Kenny, Charles ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACCIDENTS AGED AIDS EPIDEMIC BUILDING CODE BUILDING CODES CATASTROPHIC EVENTS CAUSES OF DEATH CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY CHILD MORTALITY RATE CHILD MORTALITY RATES CITIZENS CLIMATE CHANGE COLLAPSED BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY COST EFFECTIVENESS DEATH RATES DEATH TOLL DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT NETWORK DISABILITY DISASTER DISASTER EVENTS DISASTER INSURANCE DISASTER MITIGATION DISASTER PLANNING DISASTER PREPAREDNESS DISASTER PREVENTION DISASTER REDUCTION DISASTER RELIEF DISASTER RISK DISASTER RISK REDUCTION DISASTER RISKS DISEASES DISSEMINATION DOCUMENTS EARLY WARNING EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS EARTHQUAKE EARTHQUAKES EDUCATED MOTHERS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EVACUATION EXERCISES FATALITIES FEMALE EDUCATION FERTILITY FERTILITY RATE FERTILITY RATES FEWER PEOPLE FIRST AID FLOOD FLOOD CONTROL FLOOD DAMAGE FLOOD INSURANCE FLOOD PROTECTION FLOODED FLOODING FLOODS FORMAL EDUCATION HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH FACILITIES HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH RISK HEALTH RISKS HOSPITALS HOUSEHOLD SIZE HUMAN LIFE HURRICANE HURRICANES IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS INJURIES INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY INSURANCE INSURERS INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES INTERVENTION LACK OF INFORMATION LACK OF KNOWLEDGE LEGAL STATUS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MALARIA MANDATES MORTALITY MORTALITY REDUCTION NATIONAL GOVERNMENT NATURAL CATASTROPHES NATURAL DISASTER NATURAL DISASTERS NATURAL HAZARD NATURAL HAZARDS NUMBER OF DEATHS NUTRITION PHYSICAL DAMAGE POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SCHOOL PROGRESS PROVISION OF SERVICES PUBLIC HEARINGS PUBLIC SAFETY QUALITY CONTROL RECONSTRUCTION REGULATORY AGENCIES REGULATORY REGIME RESCUE RESPONSE TO DISASTER RICHER COUNTRIES RISK OF DEATH SAFETY SAFETY MEASURES SAVINGS SCHOOL ATTENDANCE SCHOOL BUILDINGS SCHOOL CHILDREN SERVICE PROVIDERS SKILLED PROFESSIONALS SKILLED WORKERS STORM STORMS SURVIVORS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TSUNAMI TYPHOONS URBAN DEVELOPMENT URBAN POPULATION USE OF RESOURCES VACCINATION VICTIMS WAR WOMAN WORKERS Every year, around 60,000 people die worldwide in natural disasters. The majority of the deaths are caused by building collapse in earthquakes, and the great majority occurs in the developing world. This is despite the fact that engineering solutions exist that can almost completely eliminate the risk of such deaths. Why is this? The engineering solutions are both expensive and technically demanding, so that the benefit-cost ratio of such solutions is often unfavorable compared with other interventions designed to save lives in developing countries. Nonetheless, a range of public disaster risk-reduction interventions (including construction activities) are highly cost effective. The fact that such interventions often remain unimplemented or ineffectively executed points to a role for issues of political economy. Building regulations in developing countries appear to have limited impact in many cases, perhaps because of limited capacity and the impact of corruption. Public construction is often of low quality - perhaps for similar reasons. This suggests approaches that emphasize simple and limited disaster risk regulation covering only the most at-risk structures and that (preferably) can be monitored by non-experts. It also suggests a range of transparency and oversight mechanisms for public construction projects. 2012-03-19T19:08:56Z 2012-03-19T19:08:56Z 2009-01-01 http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090226130516 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4042 English Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 4823 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper The World Region The World Region
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ACCESS TO INFORMATION
ACCIDENTS
AGED
AIDS EPIDEMIC
BUILDING CODE
BUILDING CODES
CATASTROPHIC EVENTS
CAUSES OF DEATH
CHILD HEALTH
CHILD MORTALITY
CHILD MORTALITY RATE
CHILD MORTALITY RATES
CITIZENS
CLIMATE CHANGE
COLLAPSED BUILDINGS
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
COST EFFECTIVENESS
DEATH RATES
DEATH TOLL
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DEVELOPMENT NETWORK
DISABILITY
DISASTER
DISASTER EVENTS
DISASTER INSURANCE
DISASTER MITIGATION
DISASTER PLANNING
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
DISASTER PREVENTION
DISASTER REDUCTION
DISASTER RELIEF
DISASTER RISK
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
DISASTER RISKS
DISEASES
DISSEMINATION
DOCUMENTS
EARLY WARNING
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS
EARTHQUAKE
EARTHQUAKES
EDUCATED MOTHERS
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
EVACUATION
EXERCISES
FATALITIES
FEMALE EDUCATION
FERTILITY
FERTILITY RATE
FERTILITY RATES
FEWER PEOPLE
FIRST AID
FLOOD
FLOOD CONTROL
FLOOD DAMAGE
FLOOD INSURANCE
FLOOD PROTECTION
FLOODED
FLOODING
FLOODS
FORMAL EDUCATION
HEALTH EFFECTS
HEALTH FACILITIES
HEALTH INTERVENTIONS
HEALTH OUTCOMES
HEALTH RISK
HEALTH RISKS
HOSPITALS
HOUSEHOLD SIZE
HUMAN LIFE
HURRICANE
HURRICANES
IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION
INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS
INJURIES
INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
INSURANCE
INSURERS
INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES
INTERVENTION
LACK OF INFORMATION
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
LEGAL STATUS
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES
MALARIA
MANDATES
MORTALITY
MORTALITY REDUCTION
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
NATURAL CATASTROPHES
NATURAL DISASTER
NATURAL DISASTERS
NATURAL HAZARD
NATURAL HAZARDS
NUMBER OF DEATHS
NUTRITION
PHYSICAL DAMAGE
POLICY RESEARCH
POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER
PRIMARY EDUCATION
PRIMARY SCHOOL
PROGRESS
PROVISION OF SERVICES
PUBLIC HEARINGS
PUBLIC SAFETY
QUALITY CONTROL
RECONSTRUCTION
REGULATORY AGENCIES
REGULATORY REGIME
RESCUE
RESPONSE TO DISASTER
RICHER COUNTRIES
RISK OF DEATH
SAFETY
SAFETY MEASURES
SAVINGS
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
SCHOOL BUILDINGS
SCHOOL CHILDREN
SERVICE PROVIDERS
SKILLED PROFESSIONALS
SKILLED WORKERS
STORM
STORMS
SURVIVORS
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
TSUNAMI
TYPHOONS
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
URBAN POPULATION
USE OF RESOURCES
VACCINATION
VICTIMS
WAR
WOMAN
WORKERS
spellingShingle ACCESS TO INFORMATION
ACCIDENTS
AGED
AIDS EPIDEMIC
BUILDING CODE
BUILDING CODES
CATASTROPHIC EVENTS
CAUSES OF DEATH
CHILD HEALTH
CHILD MORTALITY
CHILD MORTALITY RATE
CHILD MORTALITY RATES
CITIZENS
CLIMATE CHANGE
COLLAPSED BUILDINGS
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
COST EFFECTIVENESS
DEATH RATES
DEATH TOLL
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DEVELOPMENT NETWORK
DISABILITY
DISASTER
DISASTER EVENTS
DISASTER INSURANCE
DISASTER MITIGATION
DISASTER PLANNING
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
DISASTER PREVENTION
DISASTER REDUCTION
DISASTER RELIEF
DISASTER RISK
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
DISASTER RISKS
DISEASES
DISSEMINATION
DOCUMENTS
EARLY WARNING
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS
EARTHQUAKE
EARTHQUAKES
EDUCATED MOTHERS
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
EVACUATION
EXERCISES
FATALITIES
FEMALE EDUCATION
FERTILITY
FERTILITY RATE
FERTILITY RATES
FEWER PEOPLE
FIRST AID
FLOOD
FLOOD CONTROL
FLOOD DAMAGE
FLOOD INSURANCE
FLOOD PROTECTION
FLOODED
FLOODING
FLOODS
FORMAL EDUCATION
HEALTH EFFECTS
HEALTH FACILITIES
HEALTH INTERVENTIONS
HEALTH OUTCOMES
HEALTH RISK
HEALTH RISKS
HOSPITALS
HOUSEHOLD SIZE
HUMAN LIFE
HURRICANE
HURRICANES
IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION
INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS
INJURIES
INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
INSURANCE
INSURERS
INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES
INTERVENTION
LACK OF INFORMATION
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
LEGAL STATUS
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES
MALARIA
MANDATES
MORTALITY
MORTALITY REDUCTION
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
NATURAL CATASTROPHES
NATURAL DISASTER
NATURAL DISASTERS
NATURAL HAZARD
NATURAL HAZARDS
NUMBER OF DEATHS
NUTRITION
PHYSICAL DAMAGE
POLICY RESEARCH
POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER
PRIMARY EDUCATION
PRIMARY SCHOOL
PROGRESS
PROVISION OF SERVICES
PUBLIC HEARINGS
PUBLIC SAFETY
QUALITY CONTROL
RECONSTRUCTION
REGULATORY AGENCIES
REGULATORY REGIME
RESCUE
RESPONSE TO DISASTER
RICHER COUNTRIES
RISK OF DEATH
SAFETY
SAFETY MEASURES
SAVINGS
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
SCHOOL BUILDINGS
SCHOOL CHILDREN
SERVICE PROVIDERS
SKILLED PROFESSIONALS
SKILLED WORKERS
STORM
STORMS
SURVIVORS
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
TSUNAMI
TYPHOONS
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
URBAN POPULATION
USE OF RESOURCES
VACCINATION
VICTIMS
WAR
WOMAN
WORKERS
Kenny, Charles
Why Do People Die in Earthquakes? The Costs, Benefits and Institutions of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries
geographic_facet The World Region
The World Region
relation Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 4823
description Every year, around 60,000 people die worldwide in natural disasters. The majority of the deaths are caused by building collapse in earthquakes, and the great majority occurs in the developing world. This is despite the fact that engineering solutions exist that can almost completely eliminate the risk of such deaths. Why is this? The engineering solutions are both expensive and technically demanding, so that the benefit-cost ratio of such solutions is often unfavorable compared with other interventions designed to save lives in developing countries. Nonetheless, a range of public disaster risk-reduction interventions (including construction activities) are highly cost effective. The fact that such interventions often remain unimplemented or ineffectively executed points to a role for issues of political economy. Building regulations in developing countries appear to have limited impact in many cases, perhaps because of limited capacity and the impact of corruption. Public construction is often of low quality - perhaps for similar reasons. This suggests approaches that emphasize simple and limited disaster risk regulation covering only the most at-risk structures and that (preferably) can be monitored by non-experts. It also suggests a range of transparency and oversight mechanisms for public construction projects.
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author Kenny, Charles
author_facet Kenny, Charles
author_sort Kenny, Charles
title Why Do People Die in Earthquakes? The Costs, Benefits and Institutions of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries
title_short Why Do People Die in Earthquakes? The Costs, Benefits and Institutions of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries
title_full Why Do People Die in Earthquakes? The Costs, Benefits and Institutions of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries
title_fullStr Why Do People Die in Earthquakes? The Costs, Benefits and Institutions of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries
title_full_unstemmed Why Do People Die in Earthquakes? The Costs, Benefits and Institutions of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries
title_sort why do people die in earthquakes? the costs, benefits and institutions of disaster risk reduction in developing countries
publishDate 2012
url http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090226130516
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4042
_version_ 1764389644260081664