Small and Medium Enterprises in the Americas, Effect of Disaster Experience on Readiness Capabilities
| Autor | Juan Pablo Sarmiento, Catalina Sarmiento, Gabriela Hoberman, Meenakshi Jerath, Vicente Sandoval |
| Cargo | M.D. M.Sc. University of Bordeaux; Associate Director for Research, Extreme Events Institute at Florida International University; Research Professor and Director, Disaster Risk and Resilience in the Americas (DRRA) Program/M.Sc., University of Western Ontario; Ph.D. candidate Clinical Psychology at the University of Western Ontario/PhD, Florida... |
| Páginas | 117-136 |
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ABSTRACT
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is key in strengthening resilience and achievement of sustainable development.
The private sector is co-responsible for DRR: it is a generator of risks, and a subject exposed to risks. There
are competing narratives in the literature regarding the relationship between business’ disaster experience
and DRR. The current study defined and characterized businesses in the Americas, with a particular interest
in small and medium enterprises, and examined whether disaster experience predicts DRR, considering
business size. Secondary data analyses were conducted using data from a previous study on private sector
participation in DRR conducted in six Western Hemisphere cities (N=1162): Bogotá, Colombia; Kingston,
Jamaica; Miami, USA; San José, Costa Rica; Santiago, Chile; and Vancouver, Canada. Results confirmed
that business size matters – small businesses had lower levels of DRR efforts compared to medium and
large businesses. Disaster experience (i.e., supply chain disruption, loss of telecommunications, power
outage, and damaged facilities) predicted DRR. The findings underscore the importance of fostering,
advising, and financing small and medium enterprises to proactively develop capabilities in the line of risk
and emergency management, and early resumption of operations, post-disasters. Governing agencies and
civil society organizations have the ability to provide this support.
KEYWORDS:
Disaster risk reduction; disaster experience; small and medium-sized enterprises; readiness
RESUMEN
La reducción del riesgo de desastres (RRD) es clave para fortalecer los procesos de resiliencia y lograr un
desarrollo sostenible. El sector privado es corresponsable de la RRD debido a que puede ser un generador
de riesgos y a la vez, estar expuesto a ellos. Ciertos discursos académicos compiten entre sí con respecto
a la relación entre la experiencia de desastre de las empresas y la RRD. Este estudio definió y caracterizó
diferentes empresas en América, con un interés particular en las pequeñas y medianas empresas, y
Small and Medium Enterprises in the Americas,
Effect of Disaster Experience on Readiness
Capabilities
Pequeñas y medianas empresas en las Américas, Efecto de la Experiencia en Desastres sobre las
Capacidades de Preparación
JUAN PABLO SARMIENTO
CATALINA SARMIENTO
GABRIELA HOBERMAN
MEENAKSHI CHABBA
VICENTE SANDOVAL
JEL: M, M, O
Received: 29/05/2019
Modified: 18/11/2019
Accepted: 09/12/2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17230/
Ad-minister.35.5
1 M.D. M.Sc. University of Bordeaux; Associate Director for Research, Extreme Events Institute at Florida
International University; Research Professor and Director, Disaster Risk and Resilience in the Americas
(DRRA) Program; Email: jsarmien@fiu.edu, ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8192-902X
2 M.Sc., University of Western Ontario; Ph.D. candidate Clinical Psychology at the University of Western
Ontario; Email: csarmie2@uwo.ca, ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5055-4720
3 PhD, Florida International University; Assistant Director, Research Programs at Florida International
University; Political Scientist; Email: ghoberma@fiu.edu, ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8790-4544
4 MSc. Florida International University; Research Analyst at Florida International University; Scientific
Research; Email: mjerath@fiu.edu, ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4711-1571
5 PhD, University College London; Postdoctoral Research Associate at Florida International University;
Email: vicente.sandoval.h@gmail.com, ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8044-1567
AD-minister Nº. 35 julio - diciembre 2019 pp. 117 - 136 · ISSN 1692-0279 · eISSN 2256-4322
Juan Pablo Sarmiento · Catalina Sarmiento · Gabriela Hoberman · Meenakshi Chabba · Vicente Sandoval
Small and Medium Enterprises in the Americas, Effect of Disaster Experience on Readiness Capabilities
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examinó si la experiencia de desastres puede ser un indicador fiable para predecir la RRD, considerando el
tamaño de las empresas. Se realizaron análisis de datos secundarios empleando una encuesta de participación
del sector privado en la RRD en seis ciudades del hemisferio occidental (N=1162): Bogotá, Colombia; Kingston,
Jamaica; Miami, Estados Unidos; San José, Costa Rica; Santiago, Chile; y Vancouver, Canadá. Los resultados
confirmaron que el tamaño de la empresa es importante: las pequeñas empresas mostraron niveles más bajos
de RRD en comparación con las medianas y grandes empresas. El haber experimentado un desastre (es decir,
la interrupción de la cadena de suministro, la pérdida de las telecomunicaciones, la interrupción del suministro
eléctrico y el daño a las instalaciones) predijo la reducción del riesgo de desastres. Los hallazgos subrayan la
importancia de fomentar, asesorar y financiar a las pequeñas y medianas empresas para desarrollar de manera
proactiva, capacidades en la línea de gestión de riesgos y manejo de emergencias, así como la reanudación
temprana de las operaciones después de los desastres. En este contexto, las agencias gubernamentales y las
organizaciones de la sociedad civil poseen la capacidad para proporcionar este apoyo.
PALABRAS CLAVES:
Reducción del Riesgo de Desastre, Experiencia en Desastres, Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas, Preparación
1. INTRODUCTION
According to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the
Université Catholique de Louvain, in the period 1998–2017 disaster events (climate-
related and geophysical) killed 1.3 million people and left 4.4 billion aected. These
events generated direct economic losses valued at US$ 2,908 billion, of which climate-
related disasters caused US$ 2,245 billion or 77% of the total. All this is even more
troubling given that only 37% of the reports received by CRED contain economic
data (CRED, 2018). The direct economic costs of disasters have been systematically
under-reported. After two decades of intense work mainstreaming disaster risk
reduction (DRR) into the public agenda, this field is not a sole responsibility of
governments. Without undervaluing the central and non-delegable responsibility
of the government, the co-responsibilities of individual members of society, civil
society, and the private sector should also be recognized. The private sector plays a
twofold role, both as a risk generator and as a subject exposed to risks.
Three terms frequently used in this paper are: disaster, risk, and resilience.
Disaster is defined as “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community
or a society at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of
exposure, vulnerability and capacity, leading to one or more of the following:
human, material, economic and environmental losses and impacts” (United
Nations, 2016: 13). Disaster risk is understood as “the potential loss of life, injury,
or destroyed or damaged assets which could occur to a system, society or a
community in a specific period of time, determined probabilistically as a function
of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity” (United Nations, 2016: 14). In the
business context “resilience is the ability to survive, adapt and grow regardless
of the shocks or stresses businesses experience. This includes being prepared
for disasters, knowing how to respond to disasters, and understanding how to be
connected both before and after a disaster” (AECOM, 2016, p. 55).
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