Distortions in aid allocation of United Nations flash appeals: Evidence from the 2015 Nepal earthquake

•Study of design and implementation of the 2015 UN Nepal Earthquake Flash Appeal.•Municipality-level analysis of proposed and funded aid projects.•Aid commitments are associated with the disaster’s destructiveness.•Aid decisions show little regard for socio-economic and physical vulnerabilities.•Mun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World development 2020-12, Vol.136, p.105023, Article 105023
Main Authors: Eichenauer, Vera Z., Fuchs, Andreas, Kunze, Sven, Strobl, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allocation
Analysis
Appeals
Asia
Capital
Caste
Castes
Disaster relief
Distortion
Donors
Earthquake
Earthquake damage
Earthquakes
Economic analysis
Economics
Humanitarian assistance
Impact analysis
Impact damage
Local government
Municipalities
Nepal
Seismic activity
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomics
United Nations
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Summary:•Study of design and implementation of the 2015 UN Nepal Earthquake Flash Appeal.•Municipality-level analysis of proposed and funded aid projects.•Aid commitments are associated with the disaster’s destructiveness.•Aid decisions show little regard for socio-economic and physical vulnerabilities.•Municipalities dominated by higher castes favored and remote areas neglected. We examine the design and implementation of the United Nations Flash Appeal triggered in response to the highly destructive 2015 Nepal earthquake. We consider how local need and various distortions affect the proposed project number, the proposed financial amount, and the subsequent funding decision by aid donors. Specifically, we investigate the extent to which the allocation of this humanitarian assistance follows municipalities’ affectedness and their physical and socio-economic vulnerabilities. We then analyze potential ethnic, religious, and political distortions. Our results show that aid allocation is associated with geophysical estimates of the earthquake damage. Controlled for disaster impact, however, aid allocation shows little regard for the specific socio-economic and physical vulnerabilities. It is also worrisome that the allocation of the flash appeal commitments favors municipalities dominated by higher castes and disadvantages those with a greater distance to the Nepali capital Kathmandu.
ISSN:0305-750X
1873-5991
DOI:10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105023