Natural disasters are social and political phenomena. Social structures create vulnerability to natural hazards and governments are often seen as responsible for the effects of disasters. Do social trust, political trust, and government satisfaction therefore generally change following natural disasters? How can media coverage explain change in political attitudes? Prior research suggests that these variables are prone to change, but previous studies often focus on single cases, whereas this dissertation adopts a broader approach, examining multiple disasters. It investigates the social and political impact of natural disasters by examining their effect on social and political attitudes and by exploring media coverage as a mechanism underlying political consequences. The results reveal that natural disasters may have a comparatively frequent, although small and temporary, effect on social trust. Substantial effects are less likely. Social trust was found to decrease significantly when disasters cause nine or more fatalities (Paper I). Political attitudes were expected to be prone to change after natural disasters, but Paper II illustrates that political trust and government satisfaction among citizens are generally hardly affected by these events. Finally, media framing and the political claims of actors explained the variation in political consequences after disasters of similar severity. Paper III also illustrates the importance of the political context of natural disasters, as their occurrence can be strategically exploited by actors to further criticism towards the government in politically tense situations. This dissertation contributes to existing disaster research by investigating more cases than disaster studies typically do. It also uses a systematic case selection process, and a quantitative approach with a, for disaster research, unique research design. Hence, it offers methodological nuance to existing studies. A broader analysis, factoring in the variation of disaster severity and the increased number of cases offers new answers and tests assumptions about underlying patterns. The main contribution of this thesis is that it examines how common political and social effects of disasters are. Furthermore, this dissertation contributes to existing disasters research by emphasizing contextual and explanatory factors, e.g., properties of disasters and the political context that affects the media coverage of natural disasters.

Nos sociétés actuelles sont fortement exposées aux risques de catastrophes qu’ils soient d’origine naturelle ou humaine. Le problème des risques majeurs évolue dans le temps, les facteurs favorisant cette évolution sont nombreux : ils peuvent être d’ordre environnemental, technologique, démographique ou socio-économique.La vulnérabilité des pays en voie de développement aux risques de catastrophes est beaucoup plus importante. Cette situation s’explique par plusieurs facteurs dont notamment la qualité de l’infrastructure susceptible d’être touchée, l’absence d’une cartographie de risques qui a pour conséquence directe la construction dans des zones fortement exposées aux catastrophes, l’absence de mesures de prévention, l’absence de politique de financement et de reconstruction des catastrophes. Ceci-dit une conscience est entrain de se développer dans ces régions. Le Maroc figure parmi les pays qui sont très vulnérables aux risques majeurs et c’est pour cela que le gouvernement marocain, avec le concours de la Banque Mondiale et de la coopération Suisse, a décidé de mettre en place une stratégie nationale de gestion intégrée des catastrophes qui comprend un volet indemnisation post-catastrophes inspiré du « régime Cat Nat » français. En effet les assureurs marocains se verront obliger de couvrir les risques catastrophiques par des garanties obligatoires adossées à certains contrats d’assurance.Ce travail propose ainsi d’analyser d’un point de vue opérationnel les différents aspects juridiques de la gestion des risques majeurs : la prévention et le financement des catastrophes. / Our societies are becoming increasingly exposed to the risks of natural or human disasters. Major risks change over time, the factors affecting these changes are diverse and can be environmental, technological, demographic or socio-economic. The vulnerability of developing countries to catastrophic risk is much higher than that of developed nations. This can be explained by several factors, including the quality of infrastructure likely to be affected, the lack of a risk mapping that has the direct consequence of construction in areas highly exposed to disasters, the absence of preventive measures, and the lack of funding and reconstruction policies. That being said, there is growing awareness around these areas.Morocco is among the countries that are highly vulnerable to major risks and that is why the Moroccan government, with the assistance of the World Bank and the Swiss Cooperation has decided to implement a national strategy for integrated management of disasters which includes a post-disaster compensation component based on the French "Cat Nat Plan". Therefore, Moroccan insurers will be required to cover catastrophic risks through mandatory coverage backed by certain insurance contracts.This work proposes to analyze from an operational point of view the various legal aspects of major risks management: prevention and disaster funding.

La présente thèse s'intéresse à la couverture de l'information lors de crises, soit des événements brutaux et inattendus, attribuables « à une situation très difficile, voire dangereuse, pour un individu, une organisation, un corps social, un système économique ou un pays » . Elle a pour objectif de définir en quoi les pratiques journalistiques et le contenu des médias diffèrent du quotidien à la situation de crise. L'hypothèse de départ, sur laquelle elle s'appuie, est qu'en situation de crise, les pratiques journalistiques seront affectées par l'émotivité, l'impulsion du moment et la recherche d'exclusivité. S'agissant du contenu, il y aura saturation de certains thèmes liés à la crise, alors que plusieurs sujets abordés quotidiennement seront évacués et que le risque d'erreurs ou d'inexactitudes sera exacerbé. Ce travail doctoral emprunte la voie de la comparaison entre la France et le Québec, deux pays présentant une structure de chaînes télévisées similaire, laquelle permet d'établir des bases de comparaison valables. Pour répondre au questionnement initial, une triple stratégie méthodologique a été adoptée. Cette stratégie inclut des entretiens semi-directifs sous forme d'histoire de vie professionnelle, réalisés avec différents acteurs de l'information. Suivent les résultats d'une analyse quantitative du contenu des journaux télévisés qui s'appuie sur un corpus composé de reportages présentés lors de trois types de crises survenues en France et au Québec, soit des crises « sociales », des crises « naturelles » et des crises « mixtes ». Enfin, une analyse de contenu des 1 676 décisions issues de la jurisprudence du Conseil de presse du Québec a été effectuée. / This thesis focuses on the news coverage during abrupt and unexpected events, due to "a very difficult situation, even dangerous, for an individual, an organization, a social body, an economic system or a country" and aims to determine in what journalistic practices and media contents in a crisis situation differ from the ordinary daily practices. The assumption on which this thesis rests is that in a crisis situation, journalistic practices will be affected by emotions, the spur of the moment and the search for exclusivity. Regarding content, there will be saturation of certain issues related to the crisis, while many daily topics will be removed and the risk of errors or inaccuracies will be exacerbated. This doctoral work follows the path of a comparison between France and Quebec, as both countries present a similar language and TV channel structure, which allows us to establish valid comparison bases. To answer the question of the research, a triple methodological strategy was adopted. First are presented the results of semi-structured interviews we made, in the form of professional life stories, with different actors from the information sector. These are followed by the results of a quantitative content analysis of television news which is based on a corpus formed of reports presented during three types of crises in France and in Quebec: "social" crisis, "natural" crises and "mixed" crises. Finally, a content analysis of 1,676 decisions from the jurisprudence of the Quebec Press Council was conducted.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-01-19T10:47:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Clara Aben-Athar Barcessat.pdf: 1265530 bytes, checksum: cf102b64af0858cf60876983b04f2903 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-19T10:47:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Clara Aben-Athar Barcessat.pdf: 1265530 bytes, checksum: cf102b64af0858cf60876983b04f2903 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-18 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / The so-called natural disasters have been the subject of much debate and study, both within and outside the field of Law. They entail, therefore, demands that require regulation, preferably in a more direct and effective way in the prevention and mitigation of the phenomena. In the present study, it has been chosen to use only the denomination 'disasters' due to the understanding that, although they have factors of natural origin in its causes, it is not possible to dissociate human action when these events occur. The main focus of this theoretical approach is the disasters that occur in Brazil, its most frequent causes, its most significant damages, the existing regulation in Brazil and in comparative Law, and the existence or not of effective legal accountability. To do this, research done in the institutes of Environmental Law is used, in view of its transversality with this branch of Law and in several fields of knowledge that surpass the orbit of Law, due to the understanding of the intrinsic interdisciplinarity in this matter and the necessity of the expansion of Its scope of action in the country, since disasters are events that generate, to a greater or lesser degree, destruction wherever they pass, impacting the environment, such as human relations, private goods and very often, even the survival of the populations on the affected sites / Os chamados desastres naturais tem sido objeto de muito debate e estudo, dentro e fora do âmbito do Direito. Acarretam, portanto, demandas que urgem regulamentação, de preferência mais direcionada e efetiva na prevenção e mitigação desses fenômenos. No presente estudo, preferiu-se utilizar apenas a denominação ‘desastres’ por entender que, ainda que tenham em suas causas, fatores de origem natural, não se pode dissociar a ação humana quando da ocorrência desses eventos. O foco principal dessa abordagem teórica são os desastres ocorrentes no Brasil, suas causas mais frequentes, seus danos mais significativos, a regulamentação existente no Brasil e no Direito comparado e a existência ou não de efetiva responsabilização legal. Para isso, utiliza-se de pesquisa nos institutos próprios do Direito Ambiental, tendo em vista sua transversalidade com esse ramo e em diversos campos do conhecimento que ultrapassam a órbita do Direito, por entender-se a interdisciplinaridade intrínseca nessa matéria e a necessidade da ampliação de seu escopo de atuação no país, uma vez que os desastres são eventos que geram, em maior ou menor grau, destruição por onde passam, impactando o meio ambiente, as relações humanas, os bens privados e, com muita frequência, até mesmo a sobrevivência das populações humanas dos locais afetados

Les catastrophes naturelles relèvent des grands défis pour gouvernements et acteurs humanitaires à cause des conséquences et effets sur la population. En Chine, les désastres, fortement hétérogènes, ont des lourds impacts au niveau national. Dans le cadre d’un control gouvernemental et un développement de la société civile chinoise, les ONGs internationales conçoivent et enrichissent ses relations et collaborations, dessinant des réseaux inter-organisationnels qui sont rarement objet d’étude. Voici la problématique envisagée dans ce travail pour la période de 2012-2013 dans le domaine des catastrophes naturelles en Chine. Cela dit, on propose une recherche basée dans des méthodes mixtes pour l’analyse des réseaux des ONGs internationales (à partir des rapports on-line) et des entretiens à des informateurs clés pour comprendre leurs perspectives et tendances dans ses collaborations.Parmi nos conclusions, il faut souligner une faible densité de liens dans les deux réseaux complets. L’ampliation augmente fortement la complexité d’un réseau dans lequel les acteurs gouvernementaux de la Chine et de Hong Kong se démarquent en termes de prestige. Trois organisations appartenant au Mouvement de la Croix Rouge présentent des mesures de prestige les plus élevées. Ce groupe affiche des hautes valeurs d’homophilie de type dans le groupe. Les ONGs de caractère religieux montrent également des résultats élevés d’homophilie. Les entretiens fournissent de l’information en ce qui concerne les relations de communication et le renforcement de capacités qui n’apparaissent pas dans les rapports. Le positionnement en relation aux ONGs quasi gouvernementales varie d’accord au profil de l’organisation. Le procès et changements dans lequel la regulation et enregistrement sont subis crée de l’expectation et espoir parmi les informateurs mais aussi de la méfiance dans un cas. Finalement, l’implantation des organisations en Chine continentale et Hong Kong révèle des stratégies associées à l’accréditation, la stabilité et le financement par les dons. / Natural disasters represent an enormous threat to governments and humanitarian agents due to their impact on society and vulnerable population. China’s natural disasters are highly heterogeneous leading to dramatic consequences on a national level. In the context of a developing Chinese civil society framed by a governmental control, International NGOs are constanly establishing relationships between them and other actors. Therefore and considering the very few studies on inter-organizational networks based on NGOs, the study aim to explore networks of international NGOs’ working on natural disasters’ assistance in China in 2012-2013. A mixed methodology based on Social Newtork Analysis and in-depth interviews has been designed to study humanitarian agents’ collaboration and its patterns. Networks are represented using directed ties and binary relations from NGOs’ annual reports data, complementing the analysis with ten interviews of ten organizations’ key informants.The research findings display a low density of links of whole networks’ results. Also, we observe how extending the boundaries to other organizations, led into a higher amount of nodes placing Chinese and Hong Kong governmental bodies as prestige actors. Two Red Cross organizations obtained high prestige values, as well. In the same direction, Red Cross and religious organizations groups have shown high homophily results. The interviews have provided a more precise information regarding some non-declared relations on the annual reports based on communication and building capacities. Depending on the organization profile and its approach to humanitarian relief assistance, NGOs’ perspective on governmental organizations and GONGOs slightly differed one from each other. Some expectation and hope regarding regulation’s changes on register have been found amongst the interviewees. However, one organization showed concern. Finally, organizations’ offices placement in Chinese cities reveals some strategies related to registration but also to fundraising and stability, affecting both their established and potential links. / El fenómeno de los desastres naturales es uno de los mayores problemas que enfrentan los gobiernos y agentes humanitarios, debido a sus consecuencias y sus efectos sobre población vulnerable. En China, los desastres de tipología diversa conllevan grandes repercusiones a nivel nacional. En el marco de un control gubernamental y un desarrollo de la sociedad civil, las ONGs internacionales tejen relaciones y colaboraciones, formando redes inter-organizacionales que resultan objeto de escaso estudio. Es este el problema que hemos querido estudiar para el periodo de 2012 - 2013 en el ámbito de los desastres naturales en China. Para ello utilizamos un diseño de método mixto de análisis de redes (a través de informes on-line) y entrevistas en profundidad, explorando desde esta perspectiva su implementación y las tendencias en las colaboraciones de estos actores.Entre nuestras principales conclusiones, destacamos una baja densidad de vínculos de las dos primeras redes completas obtenidas. La ampliación aumenta en gran medida la complejidad de la red en los cuales destacan en términos de prominencia agentes gubernamentales de China y de Hong Kong. Tres de las organizaciones de la Cruz Roja son las que mejores resultados obtienen en prominencia, siendo también muy elevada la homofilia por tipo en este grupo. Las ONGs de carácter religioso presentan igualmente altas medidas de homofilia. Las entrevistas arrojan luz sobre unas relaciones de comunicación y creación de capacidades que a menudo no son recogidas en los informes. El posicionamiento respecto a las cuasi-ONGs y organizaciones gubernamentales varía según el perfil de la organización. El proceso de cambio sobre el registro y su regulación generan expectación y esperanza entre los informantes, destacando también un caso de preocupación. Por último, la implantación de las organizaciones en China continental y Hong Kong revela varias estrategias asociadas al registro, la estabilidad y las donaciones.

Les désastres naturels ont des conséquences particulièrement dévastatrices dans les pays en développement où les individus sont hautement vulnérables et les institutions inefficaces. Néanmoins, leurs impacts sur le bien être des ménages et le rôle des autorités publiques restent encore mal compris. En outre, alors que la plupart des études se focalisent sur le risque climatique, les désastres géologiques, et les éruptions volcaniques en particulier, restent peu étudiés. Pourtant, même si elles représentent une fraction marginale des désastres naturels au niveau mondial, les éruptions volcaniques sont une menace majeure dans certains pays tels que l’Indonésie ou l’Equateur. La présente thèse tente donc de contribuer à la littérature à travers trois essais empiriques traitant de l’effet à long terme du risque volcanique sur l’accumulation de capital des ménages, de l’impact d’une éruption sur le capital social ainsi que du rôle des autorités publiques dans les décisions de migration. / Natural disasters have particularly devastating consequences in developing countries where people are highly vulnerable and institutions remain inefficient. Nevertheless, their impacts on households’ well-being and the role of public authorities are, yet, not fully understood. In addition, while most studies focus on climatic risk, geological disasters, and volcanic eruptions in particular, are clearly understudied. However, despite representing a marginal share of natural disasters at the global level, volcanic eruptions are a major threat in some countries, such as Indonesia or Ecuador. The present dissertation tries to contribute to the literature by investigating the long-term effect of volcanic hazard on farmers’ capital accumulation, the impact of an eruption on social capital, as well as the potential mitigating role of public authorities on migration decisions.

Les aléas climatiques et environnementaux sont aujourd’hui au cœur des préoccupations et il est reconnu que les pays en développement et surtout ceux d’Afrique et d’Afrique subsaharienne sont les plus vulnérables à ces risques climatiques, mais sont paradoxalement les moins responsables du réchauffement climatique. L’adaptation de ces populations est ainsi primordiale, et peut prendre plusieurs formes dont la migration, qui, par ses retombées financières est une source non négligeable de fonds permettant aux ménages de faire face aux risques climatiques, aux désastres naturels, aux conflits et chocs d’autre type. Comparativement aux pays de la région ouest africaine tels que le Mali, le Sénégal ou le Nigéria, le Burkina Faso, n’a pas fait l’objet d’un grand nombre d’études sur le thème de la migration et les transferts de fonds. Le pays a cependant une histoire migratoire riche dans un contexte de fortes variabilités climatiques. Les conditions climatiques sont d’autant plus importantes dans ce pays que son économie est fortement ancrée dans l’agriculture.Les résultats du présent travail montrent que les transferts de fonds ont un impact sur la capacité des ménages à gérer les effets néfastes des aléas climatiques sur leurs conditions de vie, mais ils ont également leurs limites. Le premier chapitre cherche à évaluer l’impact des transferts et de la variabilité climatique sur la sécurité alimentaire des ménages Burkinabè. Nous proposons un indicateur de sécurité alimentaire prenant en compte les différents concepts de la sécurité alimentaire, et aussi un indicateur de variabilité interannuelle des précipitations. Après avoir contrôlé pour les problèmes d’endogénéité des transferts en utilisant des variables sur les caractéristiques démographiques des migrants et des variables de distance, nos résultats montrent que les transferts ont un impact positif sur la sécurité alimentaire, et trouvons le résultat inverse pour la variabilité des précipitations. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous testons l’effet des transferts et des désastres naturels sur la pauvreté des ménages, représentée par un indicateur que nous construisons. Les résultats montrent l’effet négatif des transferts sur la pauvreté. De plus, une réinterprétation de l’indicateur montre que les ménages ayant subi des catastrophes naturelles par le passé sont plus à même de faire face à l’éventualité de futures catastrophes. Dans le dernier chapitre de ce travail, nous testons la capacité des ménages agricoles à diversifier leur portefeuille d’activité lorsqu’ils font face à des risques de sécheresse, et lorsqu’ils reçoivent des transferts. Les résultats montrent que les transferts ne sont pas, à eux seuls, suffisant pour permettre aux ménages de diversifier leurs activités. La diversification est toutefois possible lorsque le niveau de richesse des ménages est déjà élevé lorsqu’ils reçoivent les transferts. La présente recherche contribue à mettre en lumière l’importance des transferts dans la capacité d’adaptation des ménages qui font face à des risques climatiques. Les politiques nationales et internationales pouvant contribuer à un acheminement plus efficace et moins couteux de ces flux sont à encourager. Cependant, afin que ces transferts soient efficaces, ils doivent être accompagnés de politiques de réduction des inégalités afin de ne pas rendre les plus pauvres encore plus pauvres. Ils doivent être ainsi vus comme complémentaires et non substituts d’autres sources de revenus. / Environmental and climate issues constitute a predominant and much up to date topic in international discussions. It is broadly recognized that developing countries are the most vulnerable when it comes to climate issues, albeit, they are the least responsible. Finding ways for households’ of these countries to cope with the harmful effects of climate goes through the necessity to identify mechanisms that can help, such as migration and remittances. The latter have been found in the scientific literature to be a hedge against several shocks such as natural disasters, conflicts, and economic shocks.This research thesis explores the theme of remittances, and climate variability in developing countries, by focusing on a sub-Saharan African country, Burkina Faso. Compared to its neighbouring countries, Burkina Faso has not been subject to much research in the migration and remittances. The country however has a vast migration history that is worth studying. Climate issues are also rampant, and very important, as the country is practising subsistence agriculture. The findings of this dissertation show that remittances have a positive impact on households’ ability to cope with the negative effects of climate issues. Yet these important sources of inflows for developing countries might have some limitations. The first chapter assesses the impact of remittances and climate variability on the food security of households in Burkina Faso. We build a food security index using principal component analysis that encompasses the accessibility and utilization dimensions of the concept. We also compute an inter-annual rainfall index and the latter is found to have a negative impact on food security. After controlling for potential endogeneity issues using distance variables and migrant characteristics as instruments, remittances are found to enhance food security. Results are robust to alternative measures of food security and alternative calculations of rainfall variability. In Chapter two, we assess the impact of remittances and natural disasters on poverty in Burkina Faso. To do so, we construct a poverty index using household’s housing characteristics and Multiple Correspondence Analysis method. Propensity score matching method is used as an empirical strategy, and results show that remittances have a negative impact on poverty. Another important result is that remittances have a higher impact on the resilience of households, when they have experienced disasters in the past. Therefore, when it comes to natural disasters, these inflows act as an important tool for populations to be more resilient. Lastly in chapter 3, we assess the role of remittances and drought on diversification strategies of farm-households. This chapter uses the same database as chapter two, and also takes advantage of the climate database of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of Anglia . Results show that remittances by themselves are not sufficient to push households towards costly diversification strategies, and they need to be conditional to households’ wealth status to be effective. Climate conditions as well as soil properties have not surprisingly been found to significantly push households towards diversifying their income.This research sheds light on the undeniable importance of remittances in helping households to cope with harmful effects of climate, but also on its limitations. International and national policies that will contribute in a more efficient and less costly conveying of these inflows are to encourage. However in order for remittances to be efficient, reducing inequalities and poverty within populations is a necessity. Otherwise, they can contribute to dig further poverty gaps and extensively the vulnerably levels inside populations. Therefore, remittances should be seen as complementary to other sources of income, rather than substitute.

本研究以經歷過921大地震以及多次土石流災害的雲林縣古坑鄉為個案，透過參與觀察法、質性訪談以及文獻檔案分析的方式，以了解當那些受到環境劇變的人們在經歷自然災害後，如何在有選的情況下做出遷移與否的決策，而哪些社會因素會在決策過程中影響人們的決定及行動。 本研究的重要發現包括以下幾點：第一，在自然災害發生後，多數的居民會選擇留下，這是基於本身的災害識覺排除了立即性、短時間內的生命威脅。同時，大部分的居民也會因為在地性的資源（如社會關係、在地知識、與在地的不動產）較多，而傾向選擇留在原地。同時，有一些社經弱勢家庭會因為非在地性資源的缺乏，也使他們不得不做出留下來的選擇。從生命史的觀點，本研究發現這些遷移決策往往是鑲嵌在長期累積的地方經驗與生活脈絡中的。第二，家庭的遷移往往是家庭成員整體的決定，或考量家庭整體需要後做出的決定。不同的家庭可能採取不同的方式來完成他們在地重建或者是遷移的目標。第三，個人和家庭的慣習往往在選擇的傾向或行動的方式中成為核心。多數人希望能在自然災害發生後恢復既有的生活慣習，但慣習的維持不僅在於個人能力，也與他所在環境中是否有足夠的社會支持有關。當社區中的社會安全網可以提供足夠的支持時，個人與家庭的慣習則得以被維持，而社區社會安全網又和地方產業型態具有緊密關聯。以觀光為主要發展的草嶺村，和在921大地震後轉型為觀光農業的華山村就是兩個極佳的對比案例。研究資料也顯示當地居民改變社會環境的可能，證明了人不是單向地受到社會環境的影響，也可以反向影響社會環境。 / This study aims at understanding how people make migration decisions after drastic environmental changes brought by natural disasters and exploring the social factors influencing these decisions. Gukeng was chosen as a case for this study due to its encounters of the Chichi earthquake and several landslides. The study utilizes qualitative research methods and collects field data, mainly through participant observation, in-depth interviewing techniques and text analysis. The main findings of this study are summarized as follows. First, most residents tend to stay after natural disasters, and such choice is based on their hazard perception that excludes immediate and short-term threats to their lives. The majority of residents prefer to stay due to more local resources（including social relationships, local knowledge, and ownership of real estate property）. Those families in lower social-economic status also tend to stay for the lack of non-local resources. From the perspective of life history, these decisions are embedded in local contexts contructed and experiences accumulated throughout the years. Second, family’s migration decision is usually made by all family members or based on the needs of all members. Different families may use different ways to reach their goals of migration or rebuilding on the same ground. Third, the habitus of individuals and families often become the core element in the modes of choice and action. Most people want to be able to recover their habitus after the natural disasters. However, the maintenance of the habitus is based not only on personal capacity, but also on the social support drawn from the his environment. People can maintain their habitus when the local community safety net can provide enough support, and the local community safety net is highly related to the development of local industries. The comparative study of Caoling Villege and Huashan Villege provides an illustrative example, in which the former is based on tourism and the latter was transformed into eco-tourism and tourist agriculture after the Chichi earthquake. The findings also show the possibility of people changing the environment, proving the mutual influence between individuals and the environment.

Turkish Compulsory Earthquake Insurance (ZDS) introduced after the 1999 Earthquakes aimed to lower financial burdens of the State and to promote safer building construction. High earthquake risk in Turkey necessitates risk mitigation, in line with the priority of the new international policy. Yet, the ZDS system operates without regard to risk mitigation, and it is far from being a compulsory condition. The ZDS system has low penetration ratios due to expectations of State-aid in the event of a disaster, which arise from perceived attributes of ZDS, according to the findings of the Zeytinburnu household survey. The ZDS system generates social inequalities because purchase of the ZDS contracts is voluntary. This is related to higher social statuses and general insurance purchase behavior, whereas insured homeowners in middle-lower income levels are observed to differ significantly from un-insured homeowners in their perception of the ZDS purchase as &lsquo / compulsory&rsquo / and as a form of &lsquo / social solidarity&rsquo / . Operation of the ZDS disregarding risk mitigation seems to promote fatalistic attitudes andTurkish Compulsory Earthquake Insurance (ZDS) introduced after the 1999 Earthquakes aimed to lower financial burdens of the State and to promote safer building construction. High earthquake risk in Turkey necessitates risk mitigation, in line with the priority of the new international policy. Yet, the ZDS system operates without regard to risk mitigation, and it is far from being a compulsory condition. The ZDS system has low penetration ratios due to expectations of State-aid in the event of a disaster, which arise from perceived attributes of ZDS, according to the findings of the Zeytinburnu household survey. The ZDS system generates social inequalities because purchase of the ZDS contracts is voluntary. This is related to higher social statuses and general insurance purchase behavior, whereas insured homeowners in middle-lower income levels are observed to differ significantly from un-insured homeowners in their perception of the ZDS purchase as &lsquo / compulsory&rsquo / and as a form of &lsquo / social solidarity&rsquo / . Operation of the ZDS disregarding risk mitigation seems to promote fatalistic attitudes and reluctance to conform with requirements of risk mitigation. Low penetration ratio and high earthquake risk threaten efficiency of the ZDS system and does not reduce burdens of the State. Based on survey findings, a more appropriate strategy for the achievement of resilience against earthquakes could be possible through the collaboration of the ZDS system with local administrations. It is observed that by means of a &lsquo / Grant Program&rsquo / , there may be abundant reason and evidence to achieve convertion of the ZDS system from a post-disaster loss compensation mechanism to a predisaster risk reduction benefactor. Supporting municipalities to produce urban risk maps could reduce risks by more accurate estimation of potential losses, and an extended coverage of the ZDS system to urban risks. Relationship analyses between homeowners&rsquo / attributes, perceptions and tendencies toward alternative policies indicate the necessity of introducing policies based risk-rated premiums. Homeowners are observed as requiring technical and financial assistance to take mitigation measures, decisions under individualized conditions, on the other hand, seem to reinforce fatalistic attitudes and reluctance due to the disregard of risk mitigation benefits and ZDS purchase. Waste of public resources and creation of social inequalities could be prevented by enhancing the capacities of local authorities to implement urban risk mitigation plans and community-based projects via a Grant Program. &lsquo / Relationship analyses&rsquo / of the attitudes of homeowners for alternative policies with respect to their attributes and perceptions revealed that a Grant Program could result in the perception of the ZDS system as a form of social solidarity in risk mitigation. This is to reduce fatalistic attitudes, and curb reluctance compared to individualized conditions of insurance purchase. As a result, willingness to mitigate risks through active participation and purchase of ZDS contracts, particularly among homeowners in the middle-lower socio-economic statuses are likely to expand leading to a resilience society.

Thesis (M. of Military Art and Science)--U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2007. / "A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Military Art and Science, General Studies." Title from cover page of PDF file (viewed: May 29, 2008).