Do Goods Choose People? Allocation and Distribution of Scarce Goods in Tsunami Hit Regions in Thailand

Abstract

The paper attempts to explain why there were so many complaints about aid allocation in the tsunami hit regions of Thailand despite the fact that more than enough quantities of money and goods were donated. In contrast to the typical explanation using the Elite Capture model, the author pays attention to the nature of goods and the mechanisms used to distribute them. One of the key findings was that intra-community distribution had stronger influence on people's perception about “equity” in comparison to inter-community distribution which is often the primary concern for aid donors. The paper also argues that in order to explain the biases in the distribution of goods, one should pay attention to the distribution of resources which lies in the foundation. Resources include land title, network with outsiders and information, nationality and ethnic status which play catalyst role in attracting aid of various kinds. Some policy implications are discussed at the end.