In the immediate aftermath of natural disasters, what are the key challenges for international aid communities? To pin down the constraints for improving the effectiveness of disaster-relief efforts, it is necessary to investigate the link between aid flows and development outcomes. I use the field data collected after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia to evaluate the aid programs for fishing communities in Aceh. I look at two mechanisms: (a) who benefited from in-kind aid program and (b) how the design and quality of the aid provided affected economic outcomes. The first chapter develops a theoretical model to understand the micro-level allocation of aid. Using a structural behavioral model, I found that the beneficiaries of aid were determined by both (a) individuals’ self-selection in applying for aid and (b) the intermediaries’ rules for targeting aid to specific local groups. Using this as a selection rule, I also found that the homogeneous design of the program was mis-matched to the heterogeneous skill distribution in the local economy, which led to a 65% reduction in fishing revenue. The second chapter examines the persistent negative impact of aid quality on re-development of the fishing industry. I provide a framework for understanding how the provision of poor-quality aid constrained individual’s job choices in two stages. Theoretical hypotheses are tested with fishermen-level panel data that is linked from 2005 to 2009. I found that (a) the village-specific impact of aid quality reduced the probability of fishing by 47 percentage points in the initial stage and (b) the individual-specific impact, occurring in the later stage, additionally reduced the probability of fishing by another 14%. I also found that households’ self-financing strategy played an important complementary role in replacing poor- quality aid boats with locally produced private boats. As a policy lesson for future relief efforts, my thesis highlights the specific imperfections associated with the official aid program and suggests how local market development can be important in ensuring aid efficacy.
Nose, Manabu,
"The Micro Analysis of Disaster Relief Programs: Individual Behavior and Design of Aid"
(2012).
Economics Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0BP013T
