"COVID-19: Network Effectiveness of Intermunicipal Self-Organized Response in Chile"

Abstract

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, public officials are called on to implement different strategies in order to respond effectively. One of the lessons of emergency management research is that effective response is unlikely without collaboration. Research on collaborative emergency management has focused on measuring the effectiveness of intergovernmental and intersectoral relationships, but little is known about the performance of inter-jurisdictional collaboration. This paper seeks to measure the network effectiveness of intermunicipal self-organized response to Covid-19. It uses a network analysis approach to compare planned and actual emergency management networks operating in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of Chile. Content analysis of 202 formal agreements established by municipalities in 2009-2019 was used to capture the planned network. The actual network was depicted by collecting original data through an online survey that represented the 96% of the local governments located in this Latin American city. The results show a structural gap between planned and actual networks and reveal effectiveness problems associated with the disaster preparedness phase. However, an emergent intermunicipal network has supported collaborative response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The study provides lessons for policymakers, public managers and researchers in the collaborative emergency management field.

Pathways to Resilience

“…Both the potential and the fragility of interorganizational and interjurisdictional coordination in crisis response and recovery operations have been well-documented (Dynes, 1970;Rosenthal et al, 1991). The COVID-19 crisis has merely confirmed these research findings (Alemanno, 2020;Arias et al, 2020;Hattke & Martin, 2020;Zao & Wu, 2020).…”

Interorganizational networks in response to the critical infrastructure breakdown: case of the 2018 KT network blackout

“…To address the unexpected emergency response needs, new patterns or structures of the interorganizational emergency management network may emerge. First, organizations participating in the actual response may differ from the plan (Choi and Brower, 2006;Fles ¸tea et al, 2017;Guo and Kapucu, 2015;Hu et al, 2014;Kapucu and Demiroz, 2011;Kim et al, 2020;Yurisch et al, 2020). New actors may participate in the actual emergency response that requires new response functions, and the nature of the incident determines the involvement of the government or private organizations.…”

“…The actual responses may involve more diverse informal but influential organizations, while the plans cover formal ones (Robinson et al, 2013, p. 358). When the emergency response's actual requirements are greater or more complex than the expected needs, emergency preparedness networks are ineffective in addressing all the actual situation's needs and are required to adapt to the evolving situations of a mass emergency or disaster (Hu et al, 2014;Yurisch et al, 2020). The variation in emergency management networks between the two phases will increase in line with increases in expected and actual needs.…”

“…, 2017; Guo and Kapucu, 2015; Hu et al. , 2014; Kapucu and Demiroz, 2011; Kim et al ., 2020; Yurisch et al ., 2020). New actors may participate in the actual emergency response that requires new response functions, and the nature of the incident determines the involvement of the government or private organizations.…”

The Success of the Vaccine Policy in Treating Covid-19 in Indonesia

“…Like-wise, natural disasters and health emergencies greatly impact immunization efforts, such as the 2019 coronavirus Pandemic(COVID-19) that has hit the entire world. It was anticipated that the pandemic would severely affect the vaccination program due to interruptions in routine vaccinations and the redundant health care system (Arias Yurisch et al, 2020;Dutta & Fischer, 2021;Sylvester, 2021).…”