The interplay between enterprise and entrepreneur in the flood risk management of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Austria

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of most economies across the globe. They are particularly vulnerable to floods because they typically have less structural adaptation measures and less resources and financial access for recovery than large companies. In SMEs, economic and personal interests in risk governance intersect, such as when business crises after flood impacts spill over to personal crises of entrepreneurs. Applying a qualitative research method comprising policy document analysis, interviews and workshops with 11 flood-affected owner-entrepreneurs and 10 local and federal experts, this article analyses SMEs in the manufacturing sector in Austria. SME vulnerability and coping capacity emerge from the close interaction of (1) the governance framework, foremost the public disaster compensation scheme; (2) enterprise-oriented factors, e.g. availability of capital, customer loyalty, labour force flexibility; and (3) entrepreneur-oriented factors, e.g. psychological resilience, social networks, political efficacy. Flood impacts may increase bankruptcy risk when coinciding with economic and personal challenges. SMEs merit special consideration in disaster risk management, therein accounting for the interplay of enterprise- and entrepreneur-oriented factors. Flood risk managers could introduce mentoring by flood-experienced entrepreneurial peers, consolidate informal local business and political networks, train risk competences of entrepreneurs and promote private insurance.

中小企业（Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises, SMEs）是全球绝大多数经济体的核心支柱。相较于大型企业，中小企业往往缺乏结构性防灾适配手段，可用于灾后恢复的资源与融资渠道也更为有限，因此极易受到洪涝灾害的冲击。在中小企业中，风险治理涉及的经济利益与个人利益往往相互交织——例如洪涝灾害引发的企业经营危机，可能进一步蔓延至企业家的个人生活危机。本研究采用定性研究方法，通过政策文献分析、访谈以及与11名受洪涝影响的企业主兼创业者、10名地方与联邦层面专家开展工作坊的形式，对奥地利制造业领域的中小企业展开分析。研究发现，中小企业的洪涝脆弱性与应对能力，源于三类因素的紧密互动：一是治理框架因素，其中最为核心的是公共灾害补偿机制；二是企业层面因素，例如资本可得性、客户忠诚度、劳动力灵活性；三是企业家层面因素，例如心理韧性、社会网络、政治效能感。当洪涝灾害与企业经营困境、企业家个人困境叠加发生时，会进一步提升中小企业的破产风险。在灾害风险管理中，应当对中小企业给予特殊关注，尤其需要兼顾企业层面与企业家层面因素的交互影响。洪涝风险管理者可引入具备洪涝应对经验的同行创业者开展指导帮扶，整合非正式地方商业与政治网络，提升企业家的风险应对能力，并推广私人保险业务。