Post-disaster Recovery Policies and Insurance Mechanisms against Disasters: Case studies on earthquakes in Japan and floods in Thailand

This research project aims at examining the ex-ante measures against disasters (e.g. an insurance mechanism) and post-disaster recovery policies both theoretically and empirically by investigating earthquakes in Japan and floods in Thailand. It comprises two parts. First, we rigorously quantify the impacts of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake as well as the extents of the recovery from them. With such quantification, we identify the constraining factors that have been negatively affecting the recovery, and examine what can be done to design a desirable recovery policy.

Second, we conduct a survey on the direct and indirect losses incurred by Japanese firms from the 2011 floods in Thailand. By combining the survey result with the scientific flooding risk information, we investigate how to design a mechanism that would lead to a desirable resource allocation--in particular, the locations of factories from the perspective of the entire supply chain.

April 1, 2012 - March 31, 2014