A hurricane, tornado or flood that destroys homes and property goes beyond individual harm. Entire communities suffer.
In the aftermath of an event like Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the New York-New Jersey shore in fall 2012, we naturally ask how people can rebuild their lives. But on a broader level: what makes one community or region better at responding to a natural disaster and surviving its aftermath?
Jeff Livingston would like to change the way that fellow economists see the world. His research challenges the “rational pursuit of self-interest” as the standard driver of market behavior. Where did he find evidence to back an alternative view that incorporates trust? On eBay.
Malaria, that ancient scourge, survives. Over the past century, as sanitation and medical advances have conquered or controlled other diseases, malaria has resisted eradication. In 2010, the disease infected about 219,000,000 people and killed 660,000, almost all in developing countries.
Why?
When Kristin Sorensen made her first doctoral research trip to Chile, she packed light. “I used a cardboard box for a table, and bought a couple of pieces of camping furniture for the living room,” she says of the 2002 visit. “I didn’t want to invest in a lot, because I knew I’d be leaving soon.”
Now, seven years and eight return trips later, Sorensen has invested plenty. The Bentley assistant professor of global studies has built a career around her passion to understand Chile’s struggles in the aftermath of dictatorship.