An entropy-based approach for disaster risk assessment and humanitarian logistics operations planning in Colombia

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to design a vulnerability assessment model considering the multidimensional and systematic approach to disaster risk and vulnerability. This model serves to both risk mitigation and disaster preparedness phases of humanitarian logistics.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 27,218 households in Pueblo Rico and Dosquebradas was conducted to obtain information about disaster risk for landslides, floods and collapses. We adopted a cross entropy-based approach for the measure of disaster vulnerability (Kullback–Leibler divergence), and a maximum-entropy estimation for the reconstruction of risk a priori categorization (logistic regression). The capabilities approach of Sen supported theoretically our multidimensional assessment of disaster vulnerability.FindingsDisaster vulnerability is shaped by economic, such as physical attributes of households, and health indicators, which are in specific morbidity indicators that seem to affect vulnerability outputs. Vulnerability is heterogeneous between communities/districts according to formal comparisons of Kullback–Leibler divergence. Nor social dimension, neither chronic illness indicators seem to shape vulnerability, at least for Pueblo Rico and Dosquebradas.Research limitations/implicationsThe results need a qualitative or case study validation at the community/district level.Practical implicationsWe discuss how risk mitigation policies and disaster preparedness strategies can be driven by empirical results. For example, the type of stock to preposition can vary according to the disaster or the kind of alternative policies that can be formulated on the basis of the strong relationship between morbidity and disaster risk.Originality/valueEntropy-based metrics are not widely used in humanitarian logistics literature, as well as empirical data-driven techniques.

Exploring and establishing the barriers to sustainable humanitarian supply chains using fuzzy interpretive structural modeling and fuzzy MICMAC analysis

“…Some of most recent studies in the area of HSCs include Heaslip et al (2018), Khan et al (2020); Moshtari et al (2021), Klumpp and Loske (2021); Wagner et al (2021), Pascucci (2021); Kovács and Falagara Sigala (2021); Renteria et al (2021), Yang (2021); Dhamija et al (2021), Caballero-Anthony et al (2021); and Hezam and Nayeem (2021). Heaslip et al (2018) emphasized on the importance of incorporating the spirit of servitization in humanitarian logistics and emergency relief chains to their competitive advantage.…”

“…Kov acs and Falagara Sigala (2021) have summed up the lessons learned from the HSCs striving to mitigate and overcome supply chain disruptions. Renteria (2021) developed and proposed an entropy-based approach for assessing the disaster risk, mitigating it and preparing for the required humanitarian logistics operations. Yang (2021) attempted to take on the humanitarian operations from the scheduling perspective and proposed a two-stage robust counterpart model that deals with the randomness of emergency.…”

Using Spatial Patterns of COVID-19 to Build a Framework for Economic Reactivation

“…This branch of COVID-19 literature proposed policies oriented toward mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 such as the optimal duration of quarantines and labor-oriented policies, among others. However, what is missing in the general COVID-19 literature is a humanitarian logistics perspective, which is important because it aims to reduce human suffering in the context of a pandemic [11][12][13] and allows us to build a supportive framework for economic reactivation based on vulnerability assessment and disaster management principles [14].…”

Using Spatial Patterns of COVID-19 to Build a Framework for Economic Reactivation

“…This branch of COVID-19 literature proposed policies oriented to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 like optimal-duration quarantines, labor-oriented policies, among others. But what is missing in general COVID-19 literature is a humanitarian logistics perspective, which is important because it aims to reduce human suffering in the context of pandemic (Overstreet et al, 2011;Holguín-Veras et al, 2013;Leiras et al, 2014), and allows building a supportive framework for economic reactivation based on vulnerability assessment and disaster management principles (Renteria et al, 2021).…”