IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v84y2016i3d10.1007_s11069-016-2503-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local politicians as linking social capital: an empirical test of political behavior after Japan’s 3/11 disasters

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel P. Aldrich

    (Northeastern University, Security and Resilience Studies Program)

  • Yoshikuni Ono

    (School of Law, Tohoku University)

Abstract

After a massive catastrophe, local decision makers have a large number of potential sources of advice and assistance. Yet, we know little about those to whom politicians reach out at the local, regional, and national levels, and what drives the intensity of contact with these targets. Using original survey data drawn from more than 240 council members from cities, towns, and villages in the Tohoku region of Japan, we investigate the factors influencing consultation after the March 11, 2011, compounded disasters. We find strong variation in their outreach to actors, including national-level politicians, governors, prefectural politicians, civil servants, and local constituents. Controlling for a number of compounding factors, such as town size, financial capability, and personal characteristics of the politician, we find that the degree of damage in their own communities robustly influences outreach after crisis. The more damage, the more local politicians reach out to a broader network of potentially useful connections more often. Partisan and independent town council members behave differently; those with party connections (especially those with connections to a governing party) reach out more than those without. Our findings about diversity and intensity of outreach bring important implications for residents, politicians, and non-governmental organizations after disaster.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel P. Aldrich & Yoshikuni Ono, 2016. "Local politicians as linking social capital: an empirical test of political behavior after Japan’s 3/11 disasters," 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. 84(3), pages 1637-1659, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:84:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-016-2503-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2503-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-016-2503-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-016-2503-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William duPont IV & Ilan Noy & Yoko Okuyama & Yasuyuki Sawada, 2015. "The Long-Run Socio-Economic Consequences of a Large Disaster: The 1995 Earthquake in Kobe," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Lieberman, Evan S., 2005. "Nested Analysis as a Mixed-Method Strategy for Comparative Research," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 99(3), pages 435-452, August.
    3. M. Douglas Anglin & Yih-Ing Hser & Chih-Ping Chou, 1993. "Reliability and Validity of Retrospective Behavioral Self-Report By Narcotics Addicts," Evaluation Review, , vol. 17(1), pages 91-108, February.
    4. William duPont IV & Ilan Noy & Yoko Okuyama & Yasuyuki Sawada, 2015. "The Long-Run Socio-Economic Consequences of a Large Disaster: The 1995 Earthquake in Kobe," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kayleigh Ward, 2021. "Effects of Reconstruction Planning on the Utility of Social Capital in Minamisanriku, Miyagi after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-29, July.
    2. Junfeng Jiang & Peigang Wang, 2020. "Is Linking Social Capital More Beneficial to the Health Promotion of the Poor? Evidence from China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 45-71, January.

    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. Yasuyuki Sawada, 2017. "Disasters, Household Decisions, and Insurance Mechanisms: A Review of Evidence and a Case Study from a Developing Country in Asia," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 12(1), pages 18-40, January.
    2. Heger, Martin Philipp & Neumayer, Eric, 2019. "The impact of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Aceh’s long-term economic growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Fabrizio Starace & Francesco Mungai & Elena Sarti & Tindara Addabbo, 2016. "Being hit twice: The psychological consequences of the economic crisis and an earthquake," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(4), pages 345-349, June.
    4. SAWADA Yasuyuki & MASAKI Tatsujiro & NAKATA Hiroyuki & SEKIGUCHI Kunio, 2017. "Natural Disasters: Financial preparedness of corporate Japan," Discussion papers 17014, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    5. Lynham, John & Noy, Ilan & Page, Jonathan, 2017. "The 1960 Tsunami in Hawaii: Long-Term Consequences of a Coastal Disaster," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 106-118.
    6. Florian Flachenecker, 2018. "The causal impact of material productivity on macroeconomic competitiveness in the European Union," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(1), pages 17-46, January.
    7. Yu Aoki & Theodore Koutmeridis, 2019. "Shaking Criminal Incentives," Working Papers 2019-13, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    8. Marin, Giovanni & Modica, Marco & Paleari, Susanna & Zoboli, Roberto, 2021. "Assessing disaster risk by integrating natural and socio-economic dimensions: A decision-support tool," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Ilan Noy & Shakked Noy, 2016. "The Ethical Content of the Economic Analysis of Disasters: Price Gouging and Post-Disaster Recovery," CESifo Working Paper Series 6253, CESifo.
    10. Dottori, Davide, 2024. "The effect of the earthquake in Central Italy on the depopulation of the affected territories," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    11. Yu Aoki & Theodore Koutmeridis, 2019. "Shaking Criminal Incentives," Working Papers 2019_13, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    12. Sawada, Yasuyuki & Takasaki, Yoshito, 2017. "Natural Disaster, Poverty, and Development: An Introduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 2-15.
    13. Myoung-jae Lee & Yasuyuki Sawada, 2020. "Review on Difference in Differences," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 36, pages 135-173.
    14. I. Koetsier, 2017. "The fiscal impact of natural disasters," Working Papers 17-17, Utrecht School of Economics.
    15. Cuong Nguyen & Ilan Noy, 2018. "Measuring the Impact of Insurance on Urban Recovery with Light: The 2010-2011 New Zealand Earthquakes," CESifo Working Paper Series 7031, CESifo.
    16. Stefano Costalli & Luigi Moretti & Costantino Pischedda, 2014. "The Economic Costs of Civil War: Synthetic Counterfactual Evidence and the Effects of Ethnic Fractionalization," HiCN Working Papers 184, Households in Conflict Network.
    17. Jonas Tallberg & Thomas Sommerer & Theresa Squatrito, 2016. "Democratic memberships in international organizations: Sources of institutional design," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 59-87, March.
    18. Gustav Lidén, 2013. "What about theory? The consequences on a widened perspective of social theory," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 213-225, January.
    19. Megan Farrell, 2020. "The logic of transnational outbidding: Pledging allegiance and the escalation of violence," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(3), pages 437-451, May.
    20. Alejandro Avenburg & John Gerring & Jason Seawright, 2023. "How do social scientists reach causal inferences? A study of reception," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 257-275, February.

    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:spr:nathaz:v:84:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-016-2503-x. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.