O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs Works

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    Adoption of Hazard Adjustments by Large and Small Organizations: Who is Doing the Talking and Who is Doing the Walking?
    (Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 2011-10) Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem
    Environmental hazards pose a considerable and genuine threat to the survival of organizations. However, organizations can increase their likelihood of survival by adopting various hazard adjustments. Prior studies on hazard adjustments have found a positive relationship between the adoption of hazard adjustments and organization size. However, no study on hazard adjustments has grouped hazard adjustments into active and passive and studied the relationship between active and passive hazard adjustments and organization size. The author investigates whether large organizations adopt more active and passive hazard adjustments than small organizations, using data from a survey of 227 organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. The results show that large organizations adopt more active and passive hazard adjustments than small organizations and both large and small organizations engage in different types of hazard adjustments.
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    Zimbabwe’s Emergency Management System: A Promising Development
    (FEMA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/CompEmMgmtBookProject.asp, 2012) Chikoto, Grace L.; Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem
    Zimbabwe’s encounter with droughts, in particular, combined with economic and political challenges, has denigrated the country’s former status as the “breadbasket of Southern Africa” (Hunter-Gault 2006; Maphosa 1994; Swarns 2002). Zimbabwe is particularly prone to a number of natural and man-made hazards such as droughts, floods, veld fires, storms (PreventionWeb 2012), and HIV/AIDS (United Nations Development Programme 2010) among other epidemics. Between 1980 and 2010, PreventionWeb (2012) documented 35 natural disaster events, which resulted in 6,448 deaths, averaging 208 deaths from disasters annually. Of the 35 natural disasters, 6 were drought occurrences, 7 were floods, 2 were storms, and 20 were epidemic occurrences. Chikoto (2004) 1 also counted the number of public transportation disasters that plagued Zimbabwe between 1982 and 2003, which claimed over 700 lives and injured over 400 people. To mitigate and prepare for these and other hazards facing Zimbabwe, the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) created the Department of Civil Protection and charged it with the onus of coordinating and managing disasters and reducing hazards. This chapter traces the history of Zimbabwe’s emergency management system, with a focus on the factors contributing to the nation’s vulnerability to disasters and hazards. In addition to tracing the impact of past disasters, the chapter also discusses some of the opportunities and challenges confronting the country’s emergency management system. The chapter concludes with recommendations for improving this system.
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    Haiti’s Emergency Management: A Case of Regional Support, Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for the Future
    (FEMA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/CompEmMgmtBookProject.asp, 2012) Fordyce, Erin; Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem; Chikoto, Grace L.
    As one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere (with over 70 percent of the population living on less than $2 a day) (Grunewald et al. 2010), one wonders about the state of the Haitian Emergency Management System prior to the 2010 earthquake. Clearly, Haiti has been an economically-challenged nation for decades and its protracted poverty level further increases its vulnerability to disasters (PAHO 1994) and impacts its ability to respond and recover effectively when disasters occur. In addition, political instabilities have led to poor economic development opportunities and increased risks. In spite of Haiti’s economic and political challenges, it is possible to gain insight into what the country’s emergency management system looked like before the 2010 earthquake. Haiti had a fledgling national emergency management system in place - one that was heavily supported by both regional and international bodies. The earthquake of January 12, 2010, however, underscores the need for a better disaster reduction and response program, one that would address the underlying and protracted vulnerabilities of Haiti, while ushering in new winds of change that would pump fresh blood into the veins of the emergency management system. This chapter reviews the history of Haiti, including its demography and geography, and examines the hazards and factors contributing to the nation’s vulnerability to disasters. Furthermore, this chapter discusses some past disasters, Haiti’s emergency management system as well as the opportunities and the challenges confronting the system. We conclude by offering some recommendations for improving Haiti’s abilities to deal with disasters.
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    Digging through disaster rubble in search of the determinants of organizational mitigation and preparedness
    (DOI: 10.2202/1944-4079.1005, 2010-07) Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem
    Disaster researchers have established the determinants of mitigation and preparedness at the household level of analysis. However, at the organizational level, there is limited research and no theory to guide research on the determinants of mitigation and preparedness. The research question is “what are the determinants of mitigation and preparedness at the organizational level?” The data come from a survey of 227 organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. This study uses Tobit regression technique to identify the determinants and finds that organizational size and concern over disaster impact are strong positive determinants of mitigation and preparedness in organizations. In addition, there is a significant and nonlinear relationship between organizational obstacle and mitigation and preparedness activities. This study concludes with policy implications and recommendations for future studies.
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    A Look at Nigeria’s Bourgeoning Emergency Management System: Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for Improvement
    (FEMA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 2012. Available from: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/CompEmMgmtBookProject.asp, 2012) Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem
    Emergency management in Nigeria, a country once known as the Giant of Africa, is in its infancy. Although organized responses to disasters date back to the early 1900s when the Fire Brigade was in charge of putting out fires, protecting properties, and helping communities respond to disasters, a comprehensive approach to emergency management only began in 1999. However, since then, Nigeria’s emergency management system has undergone tremendous changes. These include better organizational structure, more funding, curriculum development in emergency management education programs, increased training of emergency personnel, and more collaboration with other countries on emergency management issues. Nevertheless, this bourgeoning disaster management system still has a long way to go and faces innumerable challenges, including poverty, lack of funding for emergency management programs, and marginalization, among many others. This chapter examines the history of Nigeria, including its demography and geography, and takes a look at the factors contributing to vulnerability to disasters and hazards in Nigeria. In addition, this chapter discusses some past disasters as well as the opportunities and the challenges facing Nigeria’s emergency management system. This chapter concludes with recommendations for improving Nigeria’s emergency management system.
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    Professional Education for Emergency Managers
    (DOI: 10.2202/1547-7355.1891, 2011) Waugh, William L. Jr; Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem
    The education of professional emergency managers has been the subject of workshops by the National Science Foundation and the National Academies. There is general agreement on the content of curricula, except for components related to Homeland Security. This article looks at the broad issue of professional education and the need to include information on Homeland Security.
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    Assessing the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards after 5 Years: Achievements, Challenges, and Risks Ahead
    (DOI: 10.1515/jhsem-2012-0040, 2013-07-13) Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem; McCreight, Robert
    Congress mandated the Department of Homeland Security to regulate chemical facilities with the goal of increasing security at these facilities to prevent future terrorist attacks. In 2007, DHS issued an interim rule known as the chemical facility anti-terrorism standards (CFATS). This paper takes a look at CFATS 5 years after implementation and discusses the achievements and the challenges confronting this important piece of legislation. In addition, this paper poses several questions and discusses some CFATS issues and concerns that have far-reaching implications for CFATS stakeholders, homeland security, and emergency management.
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    Unidentified Bodies and Mass-Fatality Management in Haiti: A Case Study of the January 2010 Earthquake with a Cross-Cultural Comparison
    (International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 2012-11) McEntire, David A.; Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem; Gupta, Kailash
    The following paper examines the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti as a case study to better understand what happens to unidentified bodies in mass-fatality management. The paper explores the literature on mass-fatality management, discusses the context of Haiti and the impact of the earthquake in this country, mentions the methods undertaken for this study, and then outlines the key findings from this particular disaster. The paper compares preliminary conclusions in Haiti to other incidents in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and concludes with a discussion of implications for research and practice.
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    Obstacles and disaster risk reduction: Survey of Memphis organizations
    (http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000016, 2010-08) Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem; Weible, Christopher M.
    The disaster management literature is replete with surveys at the community and household levels. However, few exist at the organizational level. This study attempts to fill this void by examining the effect of organizational obstacles on disaster risk reduction. The data come from a survey of 227 organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. This study investigates three obstacles to disaster risk reduction: lack of organizational support, lack of information, and lack of financial resources. The findings show that organizations are more likely to engage in low-effort activities indirectly related to risk reduction and are less likely to engage in high-effort activities directly related to risk reduction. The most important obstacle is lack of information about the frequency of disasters, magnitude of disasters, or organizational benefits of reducing disaster risks. Lack of financial resources and lack of organizational support are sometimes positively associated with risk-reducing activities, suggesting that, when organizations engage in risk-reducing activities, some obstacles become more apparent. The study concludes with implications, limitations, and future research strategies.
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    An economic model of a genetic resistance commons: Effects of market structure applied to biotechnology in agriculture
    (Resources for the Future, 2003) Noonan, Douglas S.
    Genetic resistance resources represent an emerging class of environmental resources. These resources are the subject of increasing public interest, especially for resistance in agriculture and antibiotic use. This paper models genetic resistance resources as common-pool resources. The static model applies directly to the case of Bt corn, whose seeds are bioengineered to contain a pesticide. Firms produce an agricultural output, corn, using two inputs: Bt corn seeds and refuge areas. Production also depends on the common stock of environmental resistance. Seed use contributes to greater resistance, while refuge areas abate resistance. This costly form of abatement represents another (positive) externality, which allows for the optimal seed use to be greater than the competitive level. The use of seeds and refuge areas by other firms can be shown to be substitutes and compliments in production, respectively, for each firm. This simple model of externalities is complicated by introducing another important feature common to genetic resistance resources: monopoly supply in the biotechnology factor market. Monopoly provision of seeds, with imperfect price discrimination, leads the monopoly to act as a gatekeeper of the commons who tries to maximize its own rents rather than the rents from the resource. This divergence in interests leads to a deadweight loss as seed use is curtailed through higher monopoly prices. This equilibrium is compared to the competitive and the optimal cases. The way in which the resistance externality operates, through damaging others’ output or through affecting their marginal productivities, suggests whether the monopoly improves the efficiency of the seed market. Further consideration is given to the possibility that the monopoly determines the firms’ level of abatement. Assuming some enforcement mechanism, the monopoly chooses higher abatement levels to increase factor demand for seeds and increase its rents. The Under some plausible conditions, a monopoly supplier of the input that accesses the genetic resistance commons can be shown to actually improve welfare by mandating a higher level of care that also maximizes its profits. The distributional consequences of the different market structures are shown, noting how gains for the monopoly come at the expense of firms. In 2000, the EPA and Monsanto required purchasers of Bt corn to plant specific refuge areas in order to forestall resistance. This approach is readily extended to other cases, such as pesticides more generally or antibiotic use in the production of health services by households.