Build Back Better: What Is It, and What Should It Be?

43 Pages Posted: 5 May 2020

See all articles by Ilan Noy

Ilan Noy

Victoria University of Wellington - Te Herenga Waka - School of Economics and Finance

Benno Ferrarini

Asian Development Bank

Donghyun Park

Asian Development Bank - Economic Research

Date Written: Dec 16, 2019

Abstract

The long-term economic consequences of catastrophic disasters are poorly understood. This lacuna is surprising since the long-term effects may be much more important than the short-term emergency phase. In contrast, the policy literature is full of aspirational plans to “build back better” (BBB)—a recovery that leads to improvements above and beyond the predisaster status quo. BBB is clearly multidimensional, but the focus here is the assessment of economic BBB. We first delve into two well-known BBB cases—Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Sichuan province in the People’s Republic of China after its 2008 earthquake. Following that analysis, the central objective of our paper is to propose a more precise and concrete definition of economic BBB. To do so, we propose four criteria against which one should evaluate BBB policies: safety, speed, fairness (inclusiveness), and socioeconomic potential. We conclude by describing each of the four criteria in greater detail.

Keywords: build back better, disaster, economic impact, long run, recovery

JEL Classification: H54, Q54

Suggested Citation

Noy, Ilan and Ferrarini, Benno and Park, Donghyun, Build Back Better: What Is It, and What Should It Be? (Dec 16, 2019). Asian Development Bank Economics Working Paper Series No. 600, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3590873 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3590873

Ilan Noy

Victoria University of Wellington - Te Herenga Waka - School of Economics and Finance ( email )

Benno Ferrarini (Contact Author)

Asian Development Bank ( email )

6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550
Metro Manila
Philippines

Donghyun Park

Asian Development Bank - Economic Research ( email )

6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550
Metro Manila
Philippines

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
221
Abstract Views
907
Rank
250,651
PlumX Metrics