Chinese research on disaster economics: situation and characteristics

Abstract This study employs the bibliometric method to analyse a sample of 936 core journal articles obtained from Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI) during the period 1998–2014, with a view to outlining the situation, characteristics and trends of Chinese research on disaster economics. Our analysis shows that Chinese research on disaster economics is characterised by marked short-term fluctuations, non-mainstream tendency, localisation and non-collaboration. In terms of content, the major concerns of Chinese scholars are post-disaster construction, agricultural natural disasters, as well as disaster insurance and securitisation. In terms of methodology, these researches have entered into a quantitative phase of establishing the evaluation index system, and mathematical model analysis. With regard to the path, researches in the Chinese language have expanded from analyses of causes and natures of disasters to those of institutional response to disasters (e.g. disaster insurance and finance).