Hatton, T.; Seville, E.; Brown, C.; Stevenson, J.R. 2016 Businesses and the Canterbury earthquakes : how do their experiences translate to other contexts?. Lower Hutt, N.Z.: GNS Science. ERI research report 2016/01 96 p.; doi: 10.21420/G27309
Abstract: This report describes the results of 14 case studies carried out with organisations in Christchurch and Auckland to further inform and refine the Business Behaviours Module of MERIT. The Business Behaviours Module has been developed based on extensive statistical analysis of the responses of 541 Canterbury organisations to a 2013 survey on their experiences following the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes. We needed to test the applicability of the Business Behaviours Module to other types of disruption and to other urban locations. To do this we undertook a series of paired case studies, in two study regions, Canterbury and Auckland. Seven organisations that completed the Economics of Resilient Infrastructure (ERI) Canterbury business behaviours survey were initially recruited. Selection was based on their reported levels of disruption and to get representation from a variety of sectors, size and type of organisations. For each Canterbury case study a corresponding ‘pair’ organisation in Auckland was selected, with similar demographic features. A semi structured interview was carried out with the organisations exploring their responses to a number of actual and hypothetical infrastructure disruption scenarios. Overall, the case studies revealed few geographic differences in how organisations in Christchurch and Auckland respond to disruption. Sector had far greater significance in predicting likely response to a disruption than location. With only a few exceptions, once an initial understanding of the business had been developed, the interviewer could have answered 80% of the remaining questions accurately. This supports the idea that the Business Behaviours Module developed from the Christchurch earthquake data is transferable to other urban contexts. However, the survey and case study data are based on large urban environments and further research is needed to ensure these findings are applicable within smaller communities with a greater rural interface. (auth)
