災害風險管理的研究在歐美各國已經相當長久，累積相當多的理論與經驗研究，本文希望透過文獻的探討來整理出過去研究成果，作為台灣未來災害風險管理研究的參考。我們的探討主要分成四大項：災害管理的發展趨勢；經濟發展、災害風險管理與貧窮弱勢的社會保障；減災政策與減貧政策的整合趨勢；以及災害管理體系的制度運作與災害保險的財務原則。近年來危害研究與災害研究逐漸走向整合，強調的是全方位的分析角度，同時考量災害事件本身以及造成災害發生的結構性因素。此外，歐美各國的災害管理已經從個人主義、功能論的管理觀點，發展出橫向、縱深的處理方式，例如強調災害保險的減災機制、社區整合，以及社會資本各種人際關係的運用。台灣在災害研究方面，大部分的研究仍缺乏大型的經驗資料，以作為防災政策分析與制定的基礎。另一方面，台灣的研究缺乏立即－短期的與結構－長期的目標彼此間的結合，在災後重建的過程中，可能會使社會經濟弱勢族群長期面臨結構性災害與貧窮的風險。台灣政府在國家發展政策上，因為經濟發展所導致的社會問題，若不妥善處理，將會提高災害的風險，例如國土規劃的永續發展以及政策執行上的鬆弛，都是災害管理必須注意的議題。

Research on disaster risk management has had a long history in the West, accumulating over the years a substantial body of literature, both theoretical and empirical. This study aims to review such studies of disaster risk management and, hopefully, to derive therefrom relevant lessons for Taiwan’s disaster reduction research and policies in the years ahead. Our investigation covers four major parts: (1) the development trend of research on disaster risk management; (2) economic development, disaster risk management, and the social protection of poverty population; (3) the trend toward integration of policies for disaster reduction and for poverty reduction; and (4) the U.S. experience of disaster management systems and the financial principles of disaster insurance. In recent decades, hazard research and disaster research have converged on emphasizing a holistic perspective, a perspective that takes into account not only the disaster events but also their structural factors. Meanwhile, disaster management in western countries has reoriented from an individualistic, functionalist approach to a comprehensive and longitudinal one that emphasizes risk reduction mechanisms of disaster insurance, community integration, and the utilization of social capital and human networks. In Taiwan, most studies on disaster management have so far suffered from a lack of large-scale empirical data that provides a basis for analyzing and formulating disaster reduction policies. Furthermore, disaster research in Taiwan has also failed to integrate immediate, short-term with structural, long-term goals of disaster reduction. As a result, in the post-disaster recovery the socially and economically disadvantaged groups are likely to suffer from structural hazards as well as poverty risk for an extended period. In a word, the government in Taiwan, in pursuing national development policies, must deal carefully with the social problems thus incurred, if disaster risk is not to increase. In this regard, the sustainability of land use policy and its loose enforcement are notable issues in the management of disaster risk.