Disaster losses in the context of natural hazards continue to rise, despite a growing understanding of disaster risks and measures to reduce them. One obstacle to enhancing private and public disaster risk reduction is the influence of the distorted risk perception of laypeople. The book argues for the necessity of public regulations and explores means to mitigate the consequences of such distorted risk perception through legal measures and adjustments to political decision-making in Council of Europe member states, while respecting the value of autonomy and democratic principles. In terms of collective decision-making, the book advocates for the implementation of deliberative fora in the democratic decision-making process to mitigate the influence of distorted risk perception associated with natural hazards. Additionally, the book discusses a range of disaster risk reducing measures that member states may lawfully implement to protect individuals and communities from the consequences of distorted risk perceptions related to common natural hazards. To underscore the merits of strengthening disaster risk reduction from the bottom-up, this book demonstrates how fundamental rights and democratic values impede attempts to increase DRR from the top-down, even in cases where people's risk perceptions are distorted. In doing so, the book addresses the issue of disaster risk reduction in a novel way by exposing how legal and political barriers to disaster loss reduction can be overcome by giving higher priority to mitigating distorted risk perceptions.

We have undertaken this volume in the belief that there is now sufficient research completed on environmental risk to justify a retrospective assessment of what is known. Our authors and our intended audience are eclectic indeed. Environ mental risk assessment receives increasing attention in the media today. The populace is practically assaulted with stories, with anecdotes, and with conflicting evidence. It is our hope that these chapters will provide the reader with a comprehensive glimpse of a fast-growing field in public policy. No complete survey of the literature would be possible or meaningful. We offer here instead the integrative thoughts of some of the most respected analysts in the field. We believe that the coverage is coherent, the perspectives are illuminating, and the individual "treatments deserving of careful study. We are grateful to Warren Samuels of Michigan State University who is editor of the Kluwer series on recent economic thought. We are also grateful to our Kluwer editor, Zach Rolnik. Both have been gracious in their toleration of unconscionable delays. IX The Social Response to Environmental Risk Policy Formulation in an Age of Uncertainty 1 ENTITLEMENTS AND PUBLIC POLICY IN ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS Daniel W. Bromley* [all rights] are conditional and derivative ... they are derived from the end or purpose of the society in which they exist. They are conditional on being used to the attainment of that end.

The phenomenon of shocks is often mentioned in relation to economic crises but rarely studied. This gap in research has resulted in shocks being poorly understood, with no fundamental explanation of their inciting conditions. It is a system-forming problem that cannot be investigated without dynamic ideas about the economy, but an incomplete understanding of this event leaves economic systems vulnerable to collapse. Theory of Shocks, COVID-19, and Normative Fundamentals for Policy Responses is an essential publication that explores the factors that cause economic shocks and the mechanisms of their implementation. The book serves as a resource for the development of policy-oriented frameworks for achieving and maintaining national and international strategies to properly manage future global shocks. Featuring coverage of a wide range of topics including dialectics, self-evolvement, and structural relationships, this book is ideally designed for economists, executives, managers, entrepreneurs, academicians, students, and researchers in the areas of finance, macroeconomics, economic theory, and risk assessment.

When we impose risk upon others, what are we doing? What is risking's moral significance? What moral standards govern the imposition of risk? And how should the law respond to it? This book constructs a normative framework of risk imposition to help answer these important and oft-ignored questions.

The result of half a century of research and experimentation in economics and management, this Treatise is intended for management practitioners. Socio-economic management (SEAM) makes the demands of humanism in professional life and sustainable economic prosperity compatible. It is illustrated with numerous cases from 2,150 companies and organizations from a wide variety of sectors and presents observed and measured results. Most of these chapters are written jointly by managers or executives of companies and organizations, and scholars or consultants involved in the pilot actions. This book is the work of 193 authors, from 16 countries and 4 continents, practitioners or academics in management sciences and management. This reflects the diversity of national and sectoral contexts of SEAM applications. Some chapters situate this concept in relation to the major currents of current thought. Each chapter is preceded by abstracts in French, English and Spanish. The prefaces, signed by Herman Aguinis and Rene Ricol, show the scope of socio-economic theory and management beyond the borders of the company. The book illustrates the international influence (48 countries) of the innovative and robust methods created and developed by the ISEOR team. Socio-economic theory constitutes a "breakthrough innovation", both in terms of its conceptual contribution and the practical methods and tools of its applications. This holistic approach touches on the different functions of the company and its multiple problems. It provides a structured change management method, focused on stimulating Human Potential and on self-financing the development of the company or organization, through the periodic recycling of hidden costs.

There are two questions often asked of risk communication: what has been learned from past work, and what is needed to push the field forward? Drawing on the experience of leading risk researchers and practitioners, Effective Risk Communication focuses on answering these questions. The book draws together new examples of research and practice from contexts as diverse as energy generation, human health, nuclear waste, climate change, food choice, and social media. This book treats risk communication as much more than the interchange of risk information between experts and non-experts; rather, it aims to emphasise the diversity in viewpoints and practices. In each specially commissioned chapter, the authors reflect on the theoretical and applied underpinnings of their best projects and comment on how their approach could be used effectively by others. Building upon each other, the chapters will provoke new discussion and action around a discipline which many feel is neither meeting important needs in practice, nor living up to its potential in research. Through a more careful examination of the work already done in risk communication, the book will help develop better, more reflective practice for the future.

'A comprehensive and important collection that includes essays by some of the leading figures in the field. ...Essential reading for anyone interested in risk assessment.' Professor Kristin Shrader-Frechette, University of Notre Dame 'The editors are to be congratulated for bringing together a distinguished international group of theorists to reflect on the issues. This volume will be sure to raise the level of debate while at the same time showing the importance of philosophical reflection in approaches to the problems of the age.' Professor Jonathan Wolff, University College London This volume brings together top authors from the fields of risk, philosophy, social sciences and psychology to address the issue of how we should decide how far technological risks are morally acceptable or not. The underlying principles are examined, along with methodological challenges, public involvement and instruments for democratization. A strong theoretical basis is complemented by a range of case studies from some of the most contentious areas, including medical ethics and GM crops. This book is a vital new resource for researchers, students and anyone concerned that traditional approaches to risk management don't adequately address ethical considerations.