Natural Hazards, Unnatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective Prevention

The report looks at disasters primarily through an economic lens. Economists
emphasize self-interest to explain how people choose the amount of
prevention, insurance, and coping. But lenses can distort as well as sharpen
images, so the report also draws from other disciplines: psychology to
examine how people may misperceive risks, political science to understand
voting patterns, and nutrition science to see how stunting in children after
a disaster impairs cognitive abilities and productivity as adults much later.
Peering into the future, the report shows that growing cities will increase
exposure to hazards, but that vulnerability will not rise if cities are better
managed. The intensities and frequencies of hazards in the coming decades
will change with the climate, and the report examines this complicated and
contentious subject, acknowledging all the limitations of data and science.