Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains

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 p...

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Main Authors: Nathan Kunz, Gerald Reiner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Emerald Publishing 2016-12-01
Series:Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JHLSCM-04-2016-0009/full/pdf
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author Nathan Kunz
Gerald Reiner
author_facet Nathan Kunz
Gerald Reiner
author_sort Nathan Kunz
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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spelling doaj-art-e7ae41c0b8434f7d8ea1eae93be279b82025-08-20T02:11:55ZengEmerald PublishingJournal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management2042-67472016-12-016332935110.1108/JHLSCM-04-2016-0009Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chainsNathan Kunz0Gerald Reiner1Coggin College of Business, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, USADepartment of Operations Management and Logistics, Universitaet Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, AustriaPurpose – 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.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JHLSCM-04-2016-0009/full/pdfHumanitarian logisticsCustoms clearanceGovernment restrictions
spellingShingle Nathan Kunz
Gerald Reiner
Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains
Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Humanitarian logistics
Customs clearance
Government restrictions
title Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains
title_full Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains
title_fullStr Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains
title_full_unstemmed Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains
title_short Drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains
title_sort drivers of government restrictions on humanitarian supply chains
topic Humanitarian logistics
Customs clearance
Government restrictions
url https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JHLSCM-04-2016-0009/full/pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT nathankunz driversofgovernmentrestrictionsonhumanitariansupplychains
AT geraldreiner driversofgovernmentrestrictionsonhumanitariansupplychains