Research leader

Dr Veronique Florec Research Leader
Atakelty Hailu
A/Prof Atakelty Hailu Research Leader

Research team

Prof David Pannell Research Team
Dr Abbie Rogers Research Team

End User representatives

Ed Pikusa End-User
Mike Wouters
Mike Wouters End-User
Tim Groves End-User
Murray Carter End-User
Mal Cronstedt End-User
Suellen Flint
Suellen Flint End-User
Holly Foster
Dr Holly Foster End-User

The key aim of this project was to provide evidence on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of natural hazards, in order to help hazard managers make better decisions about the allocation of resources for the mitigation of natural hazards impacts. Using the tools and materials created in this project, end-users will be better equipped to estimate the tangible (market) and intangible (non-market) impacts of natural hazards and assess how mitigation investments may reduce those impacts.

With this aim in mind, the main focus of this project has been the development of tools and materials that make it easier for natural hazards managers to estimate the value of mitigation, integrate intangible (non-market) values in economic analyses of mitigation, and evaluate the difference it makes to include non-market values. 

This project delivered 5 key outcomes:

  1. an online platform for the Value Tool for Natural Hazards (a searchable database of the best available non-market value estimates relevant to natural hazards)
  2. a non-market valuation study that filled a major knowledge gap identified in the non-market values literature (i.e. the values of cultural heritage, social disruption and mental health, and how these are affected by natural hazards) and updated the Value Tool with the data from this study
  3. the Economic Analysis Screening Tool (EAST) for the evaluation of the (market and non-market) costs and benefits of mitigation options
  4. a free online video course on the economics of natural hazards, using drawings and simple examples to explain key economic concepts and how they are applied to evaluate different mitigation options
  5. an online training course on how to use economics in natural hazards management and delivered it to 4 different groups of end-user managers and practitioners

Read the final report here.

Year Type Citation
2021 Report Florec, V., Rogers, A. & Pannell, D. J. Economics of natural hazards - final project report. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2021).
2021 Report Florec, V., Rogers, A. & Pannell, D. J. Economic Analysis Screening Tool: Guidelines. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2021).
2020 Journal Article Florec, V. & Rogers, A. Economic analysis of natural hazard mitigation using the Quick Economic Analysis Tool. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 35, 48-55 (2020).
2019 Journal Article Florec, V., Burton, M., Pannell, D. J., Kelso, J. & Milne, G. J. Where to prescribe burn: the costs and benefits of prescribed burning close to houses. International Journal of Wildland Fire (2019). doi:https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18192
2019 Journal Article Rogers, A. et al. Valuing non-market economic impacts from natural hazards. Natural Hazards 99, 1131-1161 (2019).
2019 Report Florec, V., Rogers, A., Hailu, A. & Pannell, D. J. Economics of natural hazards annual report 2018-2019. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2019).
2019 Report Florec, V., Rogers, A., Hailu, A. & Pannell, D. J. Economics of Natural Hazards Annual Report 2017-2018. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2019).
2018 Conference Paper Florec, V., Rogers, A., Hailu, A. & Pannell, D. J. Filling the gaps: how economics can help make important decisions when information is missing. AFAC18 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Conference Paper Bates, J. Research proceedings from the 2018 Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC Conference. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC annual conference 2017 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2018 Report Rogers, A. et al. Value Tool for Natural Hazards: Guidelines. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2018).
2017 Conference Paper Rogers, A., Gibson, F. L., Florec, V., Hailu, A. & Pannell, D. J. Including the intangible benefits of bushfire mitigation in economic analyses: a 'value tool' for informed decision making. AFAC17 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017).
2017 Conference Paper Rumsewicz, M. Research proceedings from the 2017 Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC Conference. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC annual conference 2017 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017).
2017 Conference Paper Florec, V. & Pannell, D. J. Where do we put our dollars? Economic analysis of different bushfire management options in Western Australia. AFAC17 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017).
2017 Journal Article Florec, V., Chalak, M. & Hailu, A. Integrating intangible values in economic analyses of flood mitigation: a case study of the Brown Hill and Keswick creeks catchment in Adelaide. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 32, (2017).
2017 Report Chalak, M., Florec, V., Hailu, A., Gibson, F. L. & Pannell, D. J. Integrating non-market values in economic analyses of flood mitigation: a case study of the Brown Hill and Keswick creeks catchment in Adelaide. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017).
2017 Report Pannell, D. J., Hailu, A., Florec, V., Rogers, A. & Gibson, F. L. Economics of natural hazards: annual project report 2016-17. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017).
2016 Conference Paper Rumsewicz, M. Research proceedings from the 2016 Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC conference. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC annual conference 2016 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016).
2016 Conference Paper Chalak, M., Florec, V., Hailu, A., Gibson, F. L. & Pannell, D. J. Integrated economic assessment of flood management options for Adelaide. AFAC16 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016).
2016 Conference Paper Gibson, F. L., Pannell, D. J., Rogers, A., Kragt, M. & Hailu, A. Non-market valuation in the economic analysis of natural hazards. AFAC16 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016).
2016 Report Gibson, F. L. et al. Non-market valuation in the economic analysis of natural hazards. (School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Unviersity of Western Australia, 2016). at <http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/236941>
2016 Report Pannell, D. J. et al. Economics of natural hazards: Annual project report 2015-2016. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016).
2015 Report Pannell, D. J., Hailu, A., Gibson, F. L. & Florec, V. Economics of natural hazards: Annual project report 2014-2015. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2015).
2015 Report Pannell, D. J. Economics of natural hazards annual project report 2014. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2015).
Date Title Download Key Topics
27 Mar 2014 Economics of natural hazards PDF icon 891.55 KB (891.55 KB) economics, emergency management, prescribed burning
10 Apr 2015 Economics of Natural Disasters 2015 NSW RAF Presentation PDF icon 618.22 KB (618.22 KB) economics, multi-hazard, policy
17 May 2016 Economics of Natural Hazards File 14.46 MB (14.46 MB) economics, emergency management, multi-hazard
30 Aug 2016 Non-market valuation in the economic analysis of natural hazards - Atakelty Hailu PDF icon 1.03 MB (1.03 MB) economics, mitigation, multi-hazard
30 Aug 2016 Integrated economic assessment of flood management options for Adelaide - Atakelty Hailu PDF icon 1.48 MB (1.48 MB) decision making, economics, flood
27 Oct 2016 Economics and strategic decisions - cluster overview File 0 bytes (0 bytes) decision making, economics, policy
15 Dec 2016 What can economics offer emergency services? PDF icon 891.78 KB (891.78 KB) decision making, economics, policy
18 Apr 2017 Including Intangible Values in Natural Hazards Decision Making PDF icon 712.27 KB (712.27 KB) economics, multi-hazard, policy
07 Jul 2017 Understanding the value and challenges of risk mitigation PDF icon 4.17 MB (4.17 MB) economics, mitigation, resilience
07 Sep 2017 Where do we put our dollars? Economic analysis of different bushfire management options in Western Australia PDF icon 1.54 MB (1.54 MB) economics, emergency management, fire
07 Sep 2017 Including the intangible benefits of bushfire mitigation in economic analyses: a 'value tool' for informed decision-making PDF icon 1.01 MB (1.01 MB) decision making, economics, mitigation
09 Nov 2017 Investing in prescribed burning: how much should we spend? PDF icon 267.53 KB (267.53 KB) economics, policy, prescribed burning
17 Apr 2018 Economics of natural hazards PDF icon 4.06 MB (4.06 MB) decision making, economics, multi-hazard
07 Sep 2018 AFAC18 - Continuing the conversation: A changing world File 0 bytes (0 bytes) climate change, decision making, emergency management
18 Sep 2018 How economics can help make important decisions when information is missing PDF icon 1.42 MB (1.42 MB)
09 Jul 2019 Helping decision makers get value for money from public investments in natural hazard mitigation economics, planning, policy
25 Nov 2020 Intangible value economics, multi-hazard, policy
23 Feb 2021 Video course introduction | Economics of natural hazards File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
23 Feb 2021 Types of economic analyses | Economics of natural hazards (1/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
02 Mar 2021 The basics of benefit-cost analyses | Economics of natural hazards (2/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
02 Mar 2021 Using economics to estimate losses from natural hazards | Economics of natural hazards (3/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
02 Mar 2021 Scale of analysis | Economics of natural hazards (4/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
02 Mar 2021 Money transfers | Economics of natural hazards (5/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
03 Mar 2021 Estimating benefits of mitigation options | Economics of natural hazards (7/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
03 Mar 2021 Comparing costs and benefits of mitigation options | Economics of natural hazards (8/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
03 Mar 2021 Calculating and interpreting benefit-cost analysis results | Economics of natural hazards (9/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
03 Mar 2021 Risk and uncertainty | Economics of natural hazards (10/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
03 Mar 2021 Estimating average annual damage | Economics of natural hazards (6/10) File 0 bytes (0 bytes) economics, mitigation, planning
17 May 2021 Fire Australia Issue Two 2021 PDF icon 11.74 MB (11.74 MB) capability, emergency management, Northern Australia
27 Jul 2021 Economic Analysis Screening Tool File 3.58 MB (3.58 MB) economics, multi-hazard, policy
18 Aug 2021 Building economics capacity within emergency management: tools and training for managers and practitioners PDF icon 795.87 KB (795.87 KB) economics, multi-hazard, policy
08 Aug 2023 Overview of Economic Analysis Screening Tool for economic analysis in natural hazard management File 0 bytes (0 bytes)
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Veronique Florec Conference Poster 2016
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