We examine the role of business interruption insurance in business recovery following the Christchurch earthquake in 2011 in the short- and medium-term. In the short-term analysis, we ask whether insurance increases the likelihood of business survival in the aftermath of a disaster. We find only weak evidence that those firms that had incurred damage, but were covered by business interruption insurance, had higher likelihood of survival post-quake compared with those firms that did not have insurance. This absence of evidence may reflect the high degree of uncertainty in the months following the 2011 earthquake and the multiplicity of severe aftershocks. For the medium-term, our results show a more explicit role for insurance in the aftermath of a disaster. Firms with business interruption insurance have a higher probability of increasing productivity and improved performance following a catastrophe. Furthermore, our results show that those organisations that receive prompt and full payments of their claims have a better recovery, in terms of profitability and a subjective ‘”better off” measure’ than those that had protracted or inadequate claim payments (less than 80% of the claim paid within 2.5 years). Interestingly, the latter group does worse than those organisations that had damage but no insurance coverage. This analysis strongly indicates the importance not only of good insurance coverage, but of an insurance system that also delivers prompt claim payments. As a first paper attempting to empirically identify a causal effect of insurance on business recovery, we also emphasize some caveats to our analysis.
A map showing access business owners will be given to the red zone.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Businesses with signs declaring 'we are open'".
Business Analyst Lucy-Jane Walsh at work in the UC CEISMIC Programme office.
Silt from liquefaction and road damage around businesses on Ferry Road in Woolston.
Silt from liquefaction and road damage around businesses on Ferry Road in Woolston.
It's being called the worst winter for moteliers since the Canterbury earthquakes and the blame's being put squarely on Airbnb and a lack of events in Christchurch. Motels are reporting up to a third less business than last year - and that means some could have to close.
Businesses in the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton are demanding urgent action to pull the area out of an economic slump. The seaside town has struggled since the Canterbury Earthquakes, with thousands of people - and customers - leaving the area due to land damage under their homes.
Some central Christchurch businesses are having to close their doors, blaming a tough economic climate. Retail spending in the central city is only 80 percent of what it was before the devastating 2011 earthquakes, while the number of people living in the area has shrunk by a third.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 7 March 2011 entitled, "Day 14 - in the red zone".
Summary of oral history interview with Rebecca Gordon about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Transcript of Lou's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Transcript of Maryrose Ansell's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
The "Lyttelton Review" newsletter for 21 November 2011, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
A news item titled, "Cool Store Relocation Causes Controversy", published on the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre's website on Thursday, 13 October 2011.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The new site of The Herb Centre, over the road from the demolished one. 223 Kilmore Street".
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 13 March 2011 entitled, "Opawa/St Martins Farmers Market".
Insurance is widely acknowledged as a key component in an organisation's disaster preparedness and resilience. But how effective is insurance in aiding business recovery following a major disaster? The aim of this research was to summarise the experiences of both the insurance industry and businesses dealing with commercial insurance claims following the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
A map showing the proposed location of the Tait Communications business and technology campus.
A map showing the locations of businesses on the edge of the red zone.
A map showing the locations of businesses on the edge of the red zone.
A map showing the locations of businesses on the edge of the red zone.
A photograph of a sign listing businesses previously located in the demolished Marli House.
A map showing the locations of businesses on the edge of the red zone.
A video of a presentation by Associate Professor John Vargo during the fifth plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. Vargo is a senior researcher and co-leader of the Resilient Organisations Research Programme at the University of Canterbury. The presentation is titled, "Organisational Resilience is more than just Business Continuity".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: Business Continuity Management is well-established process in many larger organisations and a key element in their emergency planning. Research carried out by resilient organisations follow the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury Earthquakes show that most small organisations did not have a business continuity plan (BCP), yet many of these organisations did survive the massive disruptions following the earthquakes. They were resilient to these catastrophic events, but in the absence of a BCP. This research also found that many of the organisations with BCP's, struggled to use them effectively when facing real events that did not align with the BCP. Although the BCPs did a good job of preparing organisations to deal with technology and operational disruptions, there was virtually no coverage for the continuity of people. Issues surrounding staff welfare and engagement were amongst the most crucial issues faced by Canterbury organisations, yet impacts of societal and personal disruption did not feature in BCPs. Resilience is a systematic way of looking at how an organization can survive a crisis and thrive in an uncertain world. Business continuity is an important aspect for surviving the crisis, but it is only part of the bigger picture addressed by organisational resilience. This presentation will show how organizational experiences in the Canterbury earthquakes support the need to move to a 'Business Continuity' for the '21st Century', one that incorporates more aspects of resilience, especially the 'people' areas of leadership, culture, staff welfare, and engagement.
Provides history, business, community and tourist information. Also includes information relating to the earthquake recovery.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Lincoln Butcher John Davies' business has suffered because of the earthquake".
Business confidence has tumbled to a two-year low blamed mainly on the Christchurch earthquake.
Matthew Carpenter is from the Canterbury Business Recovery Network. Gerry Brownlee is a Christchurch MP.
A research project on news coverage about Maori, has found that tangata whenua are still regarded as lower class citizens; Ngai Tahu iwi says it's learnt from the Canterbury earthquakes, just how important it is to safeguard important documents such as its whakapapa database in a digital form, in case there's another natural disaster; New Zealand's largest Maori owned fishing company wants to see the unique Maori story pushed by companies doing business in Asian countries; Meanwhile Ngati Kahungunu Chairman, Ngahiwi Tomoana, who was the business group convenor, says Maori business leaders are keen to set up an office in China