A consensus has emerged that decentralization of the disaster management sector improves disaster risk governance effectiveness and responsiveness. While many researchers contend that decentralization creates institutional capacity building and disaster management regulation opportunities, few studies have measured or analyzed both decentralization and disaster management. We examined changes to the disaster management system and the opportunities and challenges arising following decentralization, as well as how vertical and horizontal relationships between government actors have changed in Indonesia. First, we found that decentralization had a positive effect on the implementation of disaster management with respect to regulation, institutional establishment, budgeting, and planning. Second, despite general improvements, challenges remain, including regulatory inconsistencies, a lack of funding and capacity for local institutional establishments, a lack of participation of experts, a strong dependence on the central government, and an increased corruption rate. Third, while a decentralized disaster management system framework has been established, the local government’s capacity and the overall network remain limited, with national institutions playing a leading role. These findings suggest that empowering the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and strengthening the vertical and horizontal provincial/municipal networks of the BPBD would both enhance the disaster management system and allow local actors to play a more critical role in disaster management.

The role of the municipality in disaster management is a well-researched topic, but there is an ongoing debate concerning municipal capability in handling disasters. Many researchers have argued that governmental capability is a crucial factor in ensuring effective disaster management. Thus, several studies have measured or analyzed disaster-management capabilities at the local level. However, the relationships between the related indicators have not yet been ascertained. This study addressed this research gap by examining, with a special focus on non-structural aspects, how each indicator is related to governmental capability, as well as by examining other external indicators. We also made recommendations for developing, based on municipal characteristics, the capabilities of local governments. To do this, we employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze data obtained from surveys conducted in 106 municipalities in Indonesia. Our findings indicated the existence of complicated relationships between the factors that improve local governmental capabilities and the external factors that influence capabilities. We found that the “budget allocation” factor played a fundamental role in disaster management. This article thus recommends increasing “budget allocation” as a primary way to strengthen local governmental capabilities in this area.