The Impact of a Disaster on Asset Dynamics in the Gobi Region of Mongolia: An Analysis of Livestock Changes

Measuring wealth levels dynamically through productive assets, the ‘asset-based approach’, allows persistent or dynamic differentiation of the transitions in household living standards and predictions concerning the people who may continue to experience low standards of living in the future. Studies using the asset-based approach have been conducted mainly in Africa. For a comparison, we conducted a similar study of herders in Mongolia. There were differences in our results compared to the studies on Africa. First, some herders transitioned chronically. Second, the recovery rate was different among herder types. Third, a hierarchical reversal among different herder types occurred after the disaster.