Do Local Elites Capture Natural Disaster Reconstruction Funds?

Using original survey data with rich, direct measures of local elites in rural Fiji, this article examines potential elite capture in the allocation of natural disaster reconstruction funds. Allocations of housing construction materials – both receipt and amount received – across villages, clans, and households are strongly targeted on cyclone damage, and local elites do not receive larger benefits over time. As the supply of reconstruction funds is limited during early periods, more severely affected victims do not receive benefits early, while clan leaders and elite clans do receive benefits early within villages.