The monetary value of social capital in post-disaster contexts: Evidence from Australia

Invited Speakers: Dr Aaron Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics in Deakin Business School and Bridget Tehan, Senior Advisor at Australian Red Cross This presentation will explore the critical role of social capital in enhancing disaster resilience in Australia, with a focus on bushfires. Drawing on a comprehensive literature review and original modelling, the research quantifies the impact of different forms of social capital—bonding, bridging, and linking—on household recovery, particularly in terms of mental health, life satisfaction, and economic well-being. A novel economic model estimates the “windfall income” equivalent of social capital, revealing its substantial value, especially in remote communities. The findings underscore the importance of investing in social infrastructure as a means to improve disaster outcomes and community resilience. About the presenters: Dr Aaron Nicholas is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics in Deakin Business School. Aaron is a behavioural and experimental economist. He is broadly interested in issues of how to measure and define unobservables within the revealed preference paradigm and specifically interested in how the ‘rules of the market’ (e.g. competition, prices, profit-seeking) and the ‘rules of the family’ (e.g. altruism, reciprocal exchange, fairness) interact. Bridget Tehan is a Senior Advisor at Australian Red Cross. She has more than 15 years’ experience in emergency management and disaster resilience policy and practice, and has significant expertise in community resilience, including in strengths, needs and priorities of people who may be vulnerable or disadvantaged before, during and after emergencies as well as their needs in the mitigation, transition and adaptation to climate change. Bridget is also co-founder and President of the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network which works to promote, support and recognise the contributions of women to emergencies and disaster resilience.