Businesses and the 1994 Northridge earthquake : an analysis of pre- and post-disaster preparedness.

"Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Boston, Massachusetts, March 28 - March 31, 1996"

Bibliography: p. 29-30

While a great number of studies in the field of disaster research have focused on the preparedness activities of individuals, households, and public sector organizations, few empirical analyses of business disaster preparedness have been conducted. Although the last ten years have seen an increasing interest in the area of businesses and disaster, the recent proliferation of publications has focused on how to plan for and reduce disaster-related business disruption. We still know very little about the extent of actual business disaster perparedness and its determinants. To better understand the extent to which businesses prepare for disasters and which firms are more likely to do so, this paper focuses on the preparedness behaviors of businesses in Greater Los Angeles, the region affected by the Northridge earthquake, the most costly disaster to occur in the U.S. to date. The paper addresses the following research questions: 1) to what extent did businesses prepare for disaster both before and after the Northridge earthquake?; 2) what types of preparedness activities are businesses likely to engage in; and, 3) what factors constrain or facilitate preparedness among private firms?