IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i17p7416-d1465711.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding Associations between Disasters and Sustainability, Resilience, and Poverty: An Empirical Study of the Last Two Decades

Author

Listed:
  • Dean Kyne

    (Department of Sociology, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA)

  • Dominic Kyei

    (Disaster Studies MA Program, Department of Sociology, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA)

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of disasters on sustainability, resilience, and poverty, using data from the “Sustainable Development Report” and the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) from 2000 to 2023. Regression models assessed the effects of disasters, deaths, injuries, affected individuals, and economic damage on normalized values of the dependent variables with lag periods of one, two, and three years of independent variables. The results reveal that disasters consistently negatively impact sustainability and resilience, highlighting the need for robust disaster risk reduction strategies and resilient infrastructure. Higher mortality rates significantly hindered development, emphasizing the importance of improving early warning systems, emergency preparedness, and healthcare infrastructure. While injuries and the number of affected individuals did not show significant associations, economic damage was positively associated with resilience, suggesting that financial losses might drive recovery investments. Additionally, disasters were found to exacerbate poverty levels over time with significant associations in the two and three-year lag models. This study also uncovered significant regional disparities with lower resilience, sustainability, and higher poverty levels in certain regions compared to others. Higher-income groups demonstrated better resilience and lower poverty levels. These findings underscore the necessity for targeted, region-specific strategies to enhance resilience, reduce poverty, and support sustainable development, leveraging post-disaster recovery phases for long-term improvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Dean Kyne & Dominic Kyei, 2024. "Understanding Associations between Disasters and Sustainability, Resilience, and Poverty: An Empirical Study of the Last Two Decades," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-23, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:17:p:7416-:d:1465711
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/17/7416/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/17/7416/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alice Fothergill & Lori Peek, 2004. "Poverty and Disasters in the United States: A Review of Recent Sociological Findings," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 32(1), pages 89-110, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abinash Bhattachan & Matthew D. Jurjonas & Priscilla R. Morris & Paul J. Taillie & Lindsey S. Smart & Ryan E. Emanuel & Erin L. Seekamp, 2019. "Linking residential saltwater intrusion risk perceptions to physical exposure of climate change impacts in rural coastal communities of North Carolina," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 97(3), pages 1277-1295, July.
    2. Dong, Kangyin & Zhao, Congyu & Nepal, Rabindra & Zander, Kerstin K., 2025. "Are natural disasters stumbling blocks to carbon inequality mitigation? A global perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    3. Somayeh Ahmadi & Rezvan Ghanbari Movahed & Saeed Gholamrezaie & Mehdi Rahimian, 2022. "Assessing the Vulnerability of Rural Households to Floods at Pol-e Dokhtar Region in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Chia-Lee Yang & Benjamin J. C. Yuan & Chi-Yo Huang, 2015. "Key Determinant Derivations for Information Technology Disaster Recovery Site Selection by the Multi-Criterion Decision Making Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-40, May.
    5. Arouri, Mohamed & Nguyen, Cuong & Youssef, Adel Ben, 2015. "Natural Disasters, Household Welfare, and Resilience: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 59-77.
    6. Hodgkinson, Tarah & Andresen, Martin A., 2020. "Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint: Changes in the frequency of criminal incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Mourali, Mehdi & Yang, Zhiyong & Pons, Frank & Hassay, Derek, 2018. "Consumer power and choice deferral: The role of anticipated regret," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 81-99.
    8. Michael K. Lindell & Seong Nam Hwang, 2008. "Households' Perceived Personal Risk and Responses in a Multihazard Environment," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 539-556, April.
    9. Dean Kyne, 2023. "Willingness to Prepare for Disasters among Individuals with Disabilities: An Essential Component for Building Disaster Resiliency," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Liu, Xianda & Hou, Wenxuan & Main, Brian G.M., 2022. "Anti-market sentiment and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from anti-Jewish pogroms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Meri Davlasheridze & Qing Miao, 2021. "Natural disasters, public housing, and the role of disaster aid," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1113-1135, November.
    12. Yaoyao Wu & Hao Guo & Jing’ai Wang, 2018. "Quantifying the Similarity in Perceptions of Multiple Stakeholders in Dingcheng, China, on Agricultural Drought Risk Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    13. Jia He & Linmei Zhuang & Xin Deng & Dingde Xu, 2023. "Peer effects in disaster preparedness: whether opinion leaders make a difference," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 115(1), pages 187-213, January.
    14. Ethan J. Raker, 2020. "Natural Hazards, Disasters, and Demographic Change: The Case of Severe Tornadoes in the United States, 1980–2010," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 653-674, April.
    15. Karen E Engel, 2016. "Talcahuano, Chile, in the wake of the 2010 disaster: A vulnerable middle?," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 80(2), pages 1057-1081, January.
    16. Lisa Rygel & David O’sullivan & Brent Yarnal, 2006. "A Method for Constructing a Social Vulnerability Index: An Application to Hurricane Storm Surges in a Developed Country," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 741-764, May.
    17. James E. Cone & Lucie Millien & Cristina Pollari & Jennifer Brite & Heather Badger & John Kubale & Grace Noppert & Sonia Hegde & Robert Brackbill & Mark Farfel, 2024. "The Association between Socioeconomic Status and Race/Ethnicity with Home Evacuation of Lower Manhattan Residents following the 9/11/2001 World Trade Center Disaster," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-8, June.
    18. Gaither, Cassandra Johnson & Poudyal, Neelam C. & Goodrick, Scott & Bowker, J.M. & Malone, Sparkle & Gan, Jianbang, 2011. "Wildland fire risk and social vulnerability in the Southeastern United States: An exploratory spatial data analysis approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 24-36, January.
    19. Emily Fucile-Sanchez & Meri Davlasheridze, 2020. "Adjustments of Socially Vulnerable Populations in Galveston County, Texas USA Following Hurricane Ike," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-23, August.
    20. Abu Nasar Mohammad Abdullah & Kerstin Katharina Zander & Bronwyn Myers & Natasha Stacey & Stephen Thomas Garnett, 2016. "A short-term decrease in household income inequality in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh, following Cyclone Aila," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(2), pages 1103-1123, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:17:p:7416-:d:1465711. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.