Disasters and Market Response: An Economists Perspective on the Management of Urban Emergencies.

摘要

This study examines the de facto and potential role of markets in disaster anticipation and response. Disasters are defined as any decline in the value of economic resources beyond some socially determined threshold, which varies directly with space and time. In this framework the oil shocks of the 1970s and 1980, which imposed a new regime of relative prices and hence significant losses in the value of the pre-existing allocation of resources, qualify as a disaster. In the United States, government-imposed price ceilings and mandatory allocations delayed the necessary adjustment and added to the total costs of the shock; nor did they increase social equity in terms of commonly accepted criteria. Free markets have played a major role in the demobilization and recovery following wars, which are disasters of massive proportions. Sociological evidence indicates that individuals rarely panic in the aftermath of disasters and usually respond effectively at a grass roots level; centrally dictated responses and external donations tend not to be sensitive to local conditions or desires. Markets are seen as an institutional supplement and magnifier of spontaneous individual and community adaptive behavior. Government can facilitate the contribution of markets by limiting its own role to coordination and procurement, rather than production, of goods and services obtainable from contestable markets. 41 refs.