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Article
Publication date: 3 January 2024

Cameron McCordic, Ines Raimundo, Matthew Judyn and Duncan Willis

Climate hazards in the form of cyclones are projected to become more intense under the pressures of future climate change. These changes represent a growing hazard to low lying…

1152

Abstract

Purpose

Climate hazards in the form of cyclones are projected to become more intense under the pressures of future climate change. These changes represent a growing hazard to low lying coastal cities like Beira, Mozambique. In 2019, Beira experienced the devastating impact of Cyclone Idai. One of the many impacts resulting from this Cyclone was disrupted drinking water access. This investigation explores the distribution of Cyclone Idai’s impact on drinking water access via an environmental justice lens, exploring how preexisting water access characteristics may have predisposed households to the impacts of Cyclone Idai in Beria.

Design/methodology/approach

Relying on household survey data collected in Beira, the investigation applied a decision tree algorithm to investigate how drinking water disruption was distributed across the household survey sample using these preexisting vulnerabilities.

Findings

The investigation found that households that mainly relied upon piped water sources and experienced inconsistent access to water in the year prior to Cyclone Idai were more likely to experience disrupted drinking water access immediately after Cyclone Idai. The results indicate that residents in formal areas of Beira, largely reliant upon piped water supply, experienced higher rates of disrupted drinking water access following Cyclone Idai.

Originality/value

These findings question a commonly held assumption that informal areas are more vulnerable to climate hazards, like cyclones, than formal areas of a city. The findings support the inclusion of informal settlements in the design of climate change adaptation strategies.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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Article
Publication date: 12 February 2018

Mário Marques, Ricardo Monteiro and Raimundo Delgado

Portugal experienced very destructive earthquakes in the past, such as the well-known “Lisbon earthquake” in 1755. With such in mind, accurate estimates of human and economic…

168

Abstract

Purpose

Portugal experienced very destructive earthquakes in the past, such as the well-known “Lisbon earthquake” in 1755. With such in mind, accurate estimates of human and economic losses can play a significant role in providing various societal key players with objective information for response strategies. This paper aims to present the contribution of the most recent study in Portugal (PRISE) concerning comprehensive seismic risk assessment, which can be used as good practice and reproduced in different contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

PRISE (earthquake loss assessment of the Portuguese building stock) covered three main lines of research, corresponding to the three components typically considered in any seismic risk assessment study: the characterization of the seismic hazard, the identification of the exposure to earthquakes and loss potential and the vulnerability of the exposed assets. Each of these components has been fully characterized through the collection of census and local data (exposure), used to carry out nonlinear analysis (hazard and fragility).

Findings

By involving different research institutions and partners with extensive knowledge and expertise in the earthquake domains, the developed model is capable of producing economic and human earthquake loss estimates in real time (through an innovative Web-based platform) or for specific event scenarios, considering exposed population, residential and industrial buildings. The platform uses open-source tools and hence, it can be reproduced in other countries or contexts.

Research limitations/implications

Research wise, the hazard, vulnerability and exposure models can still be significantly improved, e.g. by adding critical infrastructure (hospitals, school buildings and bridges) or updating the nonlinear models, for more accurate loss predictions.

Practical implications

The findings and loss estimates for different earthquake scenarios show that planned interventions are required. Decision-makers and other relevant stakeholders (Civil Protection) can make use of the developed platform to produce specific estimates, to test the effect of different retrofitting interventions or to plan for emergency scenarios.

Originality/value

A real-time Web-based framework to estimate building damage and economic/human losses because of seismic events has been developed, aiming to provide the Portuguese Civil Protection and other playmakers with a unique platform for planning and preparing for emergency scenarios.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

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Book part
Publication date: 23 March 2017

Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…

Abstract

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

Details

Advances in Environmental Accounting & Management: Social and Environmental Accounting in Brazil
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-376-4

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Article
Publication date: 1 May 2007

Carlos Casacuberta, Nestor Gandelman and Raimundo Soto

The economic performance of Uruguay in the last 50 years has been disappointing. Annual growth in labor productivity has been lower than the rest of the Latin American economies…

263

Abstract

Purpose

The economic performance of Uruguay in the last 50 years has been disappointing. Annual growth in labor productivity has been lower than the rest of the Latin American economies and well below that East Asian and OECD countries. Out of the 0.9 percent of annual growth in productivity, total factor productivity (TFP) accounts for around 45 percent, which confirms the key role TFP plays in economic growth. The paper aims to discuss the issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors decompose the change in productivity into four sources: an utilization effect, a reallocation effect, a markup effect, and effect of technical change.

Findings

In the 1985‐1994 period, there is an appreciable increase in productivity levels. On the other hand, the 1995‐1999 period productivity increased by a mere 0.8 percent per year. The high increase in productivity between 1985 and 1994 is explained by the relatively high and sustained technical change of Uruguayan firms as well as the relocation of inputs between and within industries. The process of relocation seems to lose momentum – or may have been completed – in the late 1990s.

Research limitations/implications

This paper uses data only from the manufacturing sector. It would be desirable to include all other sectors of activity.

Practical implications

A study of the contribution to growth of different determinants suggests two important conclusions. First, that government policies are at the base of growth instability. Second, that reforms have been the source of higher than predicted growth in the 1970s and 1990s, pointing to the need of deepening such reforms.

Originality/value

This paper decomposes the productivity change in four main sources and performs a contrafactual exercise of the impact of several policies on output growth. Therefore, researchers interested in development issues, policy makers and international multilateral organizations are likely to find it useful.

Details

International Journal of Development Issues, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1446-8956

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 9 October 2017

Carlota Quintal and Joana Oliveira

The purpose of this paper is to assess the association between socioeconomic status and child overweight/obesity in Portugal and to evaluate income-related inequalities in its…

572

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the association between socioeconomic status and child overweight/obesity in Portugal and to evaluate income-related inequalities in its distribution.

Design/methodology/approach

Data come from the last Portuguese National Health Survey (2005/2006) – sample of 6,903 observations. To define child overweight/obesity, the International Obesity Task Force cut-offs for body mass index (BMI) were used; the logistic regression analysis was adopted to explain the risk of overweight/obesity and inequality was measured by means of concentration curve and index.

Findings

The evidence obtained points to income-related inequalities in child overweight/obesity favourable to the better-off. The probability of child overweight/obesity was lower for higher income households, but up to a certain point a positive association between income and caloric food intake was found. The concentration index obtained was −0.072 (p-value<0.001).

Research limitations/implications

Some data limitations, no information on: physical exercise; sleeping habits; parents’ education and BMI; age is coded in groups. Although the data are from 2005/2006, the current analysis is useful to future works aiming to discuss the impact of the economic and financial crisis which occurred after these data were collected.

Social implications

It is important to tailor policies targeting child obesity/overweight in order to tackle not only the prevalence of this disease but also its distribution.

Originality/value

Drawing attention on inequalities in child obesity/overweight in Portugal as the vast majority of studies have focussed on prevalence. The middle income effect is an issue raised in this work which deserves further investigation.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 44 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

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