Economic impact assessment after a natural disaster using DEMATEL method

The overall economy in a disaster area is affected by different impacts. In this study we wouldidentify the key economic impacts of natural disasters on small- and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) by detailed literature review and discussion with a number of experts. This study proposesDecision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method to develop a structuralmodel for evaluating influential economic impacts. Few papers have examined economic researchon natural disasters (Noy, 2009). Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, no paper has evaluatedthe impact of natural disasters using DEMATEL. The chapter will use DEMATEL method to eval-uate the economic impact of a natural disaster.