Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Housing The Workforce Following The Canterbury Earthquakes In New Zealand, Yan Chang-Richards, Suzanne J. Wilkinson, Erica Seville, David Brundson

International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (I3R2) Conference

Temporary housing following a large-scale disaster has a positive effect on household welfare and community recovery. Following the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, a shortage of temporary accommodation created barriers for the outside construction workforce to engage in repairs and rebuild in Christchurch. This study investigates the impacts of housing shortages for the overall recovery and the strategies adopted by both households and the workforce in the building industry. Findings suggest that the interplay among the industry strategies and household strategies for securing housing determines the magnitude and scope of economy-wide inflation. One unfortunate consequence of these industry strategies is …