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Article
Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains: An exploratory study
Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management
(2016)
Abstract
Purpose
Foreign governments do not always welcome international humanitarian organizations responding to a disaster in their country. Many governments even impose restrictions on humanitarian supply chains through import barriers, travel restrictions or excessive bureaucracy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze these restrictions and try to identify the government characteristics that best explain the tendency to impose such restrictions.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a multiple case study among four international humanitarian organizations the authors identify and analyze the restrictions imposed on humanitarian supply chains in 143 different programs. The authors compare the average number of restrictions per country with different governmental and socio-economic situational factors.
Findings
The authors find that state fragility, a combination of government ineffectiveness and illegitimacy, is the characteristic that best explains the tendency of a government to impose restrictions on humanitarian supply chains.
Practical implications
Knowing that fragile states tend to impose a high number of restrictions helps humanitarian organizations to prepare adequately before entering a country with a fragile government. The organization can, for example, anticipate possible concerns and establish trust with the government. Commercial companies starting to do business in such country can learn from this knowledge.
Originality/value
Multiple studies have mentioned the strong impact of governments on humanitarian supply chains, but no paper has yet analyzed this problem in detail. The paper is the first to identify the characteristics that explain the number of restrictions governments impose on humanitarian supply chains, and what humanitarian organizations can do to address them.
Keywords
- Humanitarian logistics,
- Customs clearance,
- Government restrictions
Disciplines
Publication Date
December 5, 2016
DOI
10.1108/JHLSCM-04-2016-0009
Citation Information
Nathan Kunz and Gerald Reiner. "Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains: An exploratory study" Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management Vol. 6 Iss. 3 (2016) p. 329 - 351 ISSN: 2042-6747 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nathan_kunz/4/