An integrated approach to the economic impacts of disasters: Socioeconomic vulnerability, production networks and sustainable disaster management

The economic cost of disasters is often discussed through the monetary value of damaged buildings and destroyed physical capital. Yet economic loss expands after the initial physical shock through production networks, labour markets, migration, income distribution, public finance, insurance and institutional capacity. This study aims to explain the economic impacts of disasters not as isolated cost items but as a propagation system shaped by socioeconomic vulnerability and recovery capacity. An integrative literature review and qualitative document analysis were employed. Twelve Turkey-focused academic or institutional sources and thirteen foundational or comparative international studies were examined thematically. The findings are organised around five dimensions: direct losses, production and supply-network effects, socioeconomic vulnerability, macro-fiscal propagation and institutional recovery capacity. The synthesis indicates that hazards of comparable physical magnitude may generate markedly different economic outcomes depending on vulnerability, network structure and institutional conditions. Based on this synthesis, the study proposes a “Disaster Economic Impact Propagation Framework” that links the initial shock to indirect, social and macroeconomic effects while treating governance, risk financing and resilience investments as cross-cutting moderators. The framework suggests that disaster policy should integrate risk reduction, business continuity, social protection and financial preparedness rather than addressing them as separate policy domains.