Neighbors Help in a Pandemic

Abstract

The degradation of non-market relationships has rendered in-dividuals unnecessarily vulnerable in disasters, including the global pan-demic. While local networks of community-based aid that emerge in re-sponse to disasters improve the efficacy of response, they tend to be short-lived. This is unfortunate, since the existence and strength of such local networks prior to the onset of disasters not only boosts the efficacy of response but also contributes to the well-being of individuals and com-munities in non-disaster times. Therefore, individuals ought to establish and strengthen fair-weather local networks of non-market relationships—that is, cultivate neighbor relationships.