Effect of intellectual capital on disaster risk reduction in Nairobi city county, Kenya

Abstract

Research on disaster management increasingly highlights the central importance of intellectual capacity in facilitating disaster risk reduction. Intellectual capacity, or knowledge, skills, expertise, and creativity, is essential to individual disaster managers as well as to the connected activities of fragmented stakeholders. Disaster management has been shown through research to depend not just on human capital but also on structural capital. This connection emphasizes leveraging intellectual capital at the local, national, and global levels in support of better disaster preparation, response, and recovery policy. In Kenya, disaster risk reduction is a major priority because of the country's susceptibility to various hazards such as droughts, floods, landslides, earthquakes, and epidemics. The Kenyan government, along with various international organizations, has been implementing measures to increase adaptability and scale down the influence of disasters on communities and the economy. This study aimed to investigate how intellectual capital impacts disaster risk reduction in Kenya. The study evaluated the impact of three main facets of intellectual capital namely, human capital, structural capital, and relational capital on disaster risk reduction in Kenya. Additionally, it explored the influence of government intervention measures on disaster risk reduction in the country. The research was based on three theoretical frameworks: intellectual capital theory, stakeholder theory, and the social-ecological systems framework. The target population consisted of 1178 employees from the Nairobi City County Government from various Department. A sample size of 299 officers was also selected using the Yamane (1967) formula and stratified random sampling technique. The study utilized structured questionnaires to gather raw data. The data then analyzed with SPSS v27 statistical software to produce both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results were displayed in tables for ease of understanding and interpretation. The results showed that human capital had a strong positive and significant effect on disaster risk reduction (B = 0.355, 0.000<p<0.05). Relational capital also had a positive and significant effect (B = 0.064, 0.033<p<0.05). However, structural capital had a negative insignificant effect (B = -0.015, 0.276>p>0.05). Finally, government intervention measures had a positive intervening effect on disaster risk reduction (B = 0.422, 0.00<p< 0.05). The study concludes that intellectual capital has a positive effect on disaster risk reduction in Nairobi city county. It also concludes that government intervention measures have an intervening effect on the relationship between intellectual capital and disaster risk reduction in Nairobi city county, Kenya. The study recommends that the county government should enhance staff skills, strengthen organizational structures, adopt modern technology, improve stakeholder and community engagement, and enforce regulations to collectively strengthen disaster risk reduction in Nairobi City County.