Measuring Conflict Exposure in Micro-Level Surveys

Violent conflict is a key obstacle to overall economic development and specifically to human development. Conflicts vary greatly in their nature – hence the impacts of conflicts on people also vary greatly. If socioeconomic research on conflict has demonstrated one thing, it is that the circumstances of conflict matter greatly for policies designed to end and overcome the legacies of conflict. Reconstruction policies in particular must build on local conflict legacies, taking into consideration how people were affected by war and violence, for example through death, displacement, disability, fear, asset loss or market breakdown. In essence, each person may experience a conflict differently, leading to different types of conflict exposure even within families or villages. Conflict exposure may vary by gender, political view, socioeconomic status, or mere bad luck. Capturing how people experience and are exposed to such conflict dynamics is the aim of this sourcebook.