Mapping the Structural Patterns of Intergovernmental Emergency Networks: An Exploratory Study

This paper describes the structural patterns of intergovernmental emergency preparedness and then explored the impact of network centrality in collaborative networks on a county government's preparedness for emergencies.Through the first analysis using a social network analysis technique, this paper identified influential actors in each type of collaborative network.These results might provide initial insight into how county governments and other levels of government organizations interact with each other in terms of emergency management.Although the findings in the second analysis did not fully support the argument that network position affects organizational performance (i.e., emergency preparedness), the results showed that at least in the formal mutual aid network, a positive relationship exists between network centrality and emergency preparedness.