Oviedo, Ana MaríaHeltberg, RasmusTalukdar, Faiyaz2015-09-212015-09-212015-03-06The Journal of Development Studies0022-0388https://hdl.handle.net/10986/22642This article reports on a project to explore empirical patterns in risk, shocks and risk management using recent household surveys with risk modules from 16 different developing countries. Natural disasters, health shocks, economic shocks, and asset loss are the most commonly reported types of shocks and, especially for the poor, often result in ‘bad’ coping responses that may perpetuate vulnerability. The information culled from these survey modules falls short of expectations in several ways.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOcopingeconomic shocksnatural disastersJournal ArticleWorld Bank10.1596/22642