Economies of Expertise: Factors Promoting Comprehensive Local Hazards Management

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Since the concept of comprehensive emergency management was first promoted a decade ago, consistent complaints have been made that local governments fail to give enough attention to the mitigation and recovery planning phases of managing hazards, compared to preparedness and response. A lesson from the Loma Prieta earthquake is that a wider group of local government agencies need to be involved not only in mitigation, but also in recovery and reconstruction. This project investigates how improved collaboration between local emergency management agencies and planning departments may produce economies of expertise that result in a more comprehensive effort in all phases of hazards management. Planning departments are a significant source of poorly tapped local resources to support that objective. Theory suggests that specific forms of communication and cooperation between the agencies can promote more effective effort under different environmental and organizational conditions. That proposition is tested through a dual sample of the planning and emergency management agencies among approximately 400 cities for which unique longitudinal data are available. Four case studies that cover failures and successes from the national sample provide further depth to the survey data as well as information needed to communicate results through a user-oriented project summary. As well as contributing to research on organization for emergency management and hazard mitigation, the project extends prior research on interorgaizational relations and urban policy.