Title: Natural disaster and financial risk management

Authors: K.B. Oh, Chien-Ta Bruce Ho, Desheng Dash Wu

Addresses: Graduate School of Management, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. ' Institute of Electronic Commerce, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan. ' Reykjavik University, Kringlunni 1, IS-103 Reykjavik, Iceland; RiskLab, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada

Abstract: This paper explores and discusses the financial issues faced by firms in a natural disaster. It introduces the disaster risk environment and the factors that affect the operations of a firm. The implications of a natural disaster in terms of unsystematic and systematic risks, investment evaluation, strategic investment, and risk and compliance are addressed. It provides a framework to analyse the disaster risk exposure of a firm and how it might be used in risk management. The discussions in this paper are relevant to the Wenchuan earthquake in China in May 2008.

Keywords: natural disasters; financial risk management; Wenchuan; earthquakes; China; investment evaluation; strategic investment; compliance; risk exposure; emergency management; disater management; crisis management; business continuity; systematic risks; unsystematic risks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2009.029247

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2009 Vol.6 No.2, pp.215 - 226

Published online: 17 Nov 2009 *

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