Competitiveness of the Regions in the Czech Republic from the Perspective of Disaster Risk Financing

Abstract

Mitigation of the impact of disasters and increasing resilience represent an inseparable part of the competitiveness of regions that cannot be implemented without a necessary resource framework. The paper focuses on the issue of financing individual phases of disaster management at the level of regions in the Czech conditions. The article is based on the assumption that public authorities do not systematically plan funds for dealing with crisis situations in the expenditure part of the budget, thereby not supporting the structural and functional conditions of territorial attractiveness, security and sustainability. The aim of the article is to propose a unique calculation of the minimum fund allocation for individual phases of disaster risk reduction at the regional level. The calculation concept is based on the value of the property owned by the region, the number of crisis situations predicted in the region, the number of crisis situations predicted in the Czech Republic, the administrative territory of the region and the total expenditures of the regional budget. The article presents a specific national approach to the public fund allocation to the individual disaster risk management phases, providing competitive administration and progressive and resilient development of the region. Based on the originally elaborated calculation, a comparative analysis of the expenditure part of 13 regional budgets for the 2013– 2019 period was performed. The premise on the insufficient financing of disaster management was confirmed, although the Crisis Management Act imposes this obligation. The results showed that the most underfunded area was the implementation phase.