Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/331390 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 58/25
Version Description: 
Correction: An error in the ISBN displayed below was corrected on 19 September 2025.
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper develops a general framework for understanding and measuring fragility, applicable across disciplines. Although the concept of fragility is widely used in research and policy, its definition and measurement remain contested even within individual fields. The framework offers a structure for thinking about fragility by examining the process through which an object fails. We conceptualize fragility as the ease of failure, distinguishing it from risk and resilience, and analyse five measures: critical stress, damage condition, conditional probability, unconditional probability, and composite index. We also provide policy guidance on developing fragility measures and illustrate the crucial role of defining failure to measure fragility and inform policy.
Subjects: 
fragility
measurement
policy
JEL: 
D74
D81
E61
O19
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9267-617-9
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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