Does Indiscriminate Violence Incite Insurgent Attacks? Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Does a state’s use of indiscriminate violence incite insurgent attacks? Nearly all existing theories and empirical studies conclude that such actions only fuel insurgencies by […]
Explaining the Violence Pattern of the Algerian Civil
I draw a geographically and temporally disaggregated model of the location and course of the Algerian civil war, using new battle event and location data […]
From Violence to Voting: War and political participation in Uganda
What is the political legacy of violent conflict? This paper presents evidence for a link between war, violence and increased individual political participation and leadership […]
Does inequality make us rebel? A revisited theoretical model applied to South Mexico
Since Collier and Hoeffler (1998, 2004), it has been supported that inequality, measured at national level, does not affect the risk of conflict. Such a […]
Reputation, Group Structure and Social Tensions
Social tensions impede social cohesion and public goods provision. They can also be a driving force for more serious conflicts such as civil wars. Surprisingly, […]
The formality in property rights: determinant in the military strategy of armed actors
The causes of internal conflicts are not easy to identify, and in order to understand its dynamics it is important to determine the factors that […]
Ethnicity and citizenship issues have been among the contributing causes of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the past decades. These identity […]
The Links between Violence and Institutional Change in Hila, Eastern Indonesia
From 1999 until 2002, the island of Ambon in Eastern Indonesia was the site of a high-intensity conflict between Muslims and Christians. Apart from a […]
The Opec Boys and the political economy of smuggling in northern Uganda
Els Lecoutere, Kristof Titeca,
In this article, we unearth the institution for enforcement of the agreement between the Opec Boys, fuel smugglers and ex-rebels, and a politician, who allows […]
Containing ethnic conflicts through ethical voting? Evidence from Ethiopia
In an ethnically polarized country, does aversion towards inter-ethnic inequity induce citizens to vote for a party promoting an equitable allocation of national resources among […]
Reducing intergroup prejudice and conflict with the media. A field experiment in Rwanda
Can the media reduce intergroup prejudice and conflict? Despite the high stakes of this question, understanding of the mass media’s role in shaping prejudiced beliefs, […]
Carrot or stick? Redistributive transfers versus policing in contexts of civil unrest
Recurrent episodes of civil unrest significantly reduce the potential for economic growth and poverty reduction. Yet the economics literature offers little understanding of what triggers […]
Civil Conflict and Displacement: Village-Level Determinants of Forced Migration in Aceh
The purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants of displacement behavior based on various push and pull factors at the village level. The […]
Rationality as a Barrier to Peace: Micro-evidence from Kosovo
Despite a significant expansion of the literature on conflicts and fragility of states, only a few systematic attempts have been made to link the theoretical […]
Social Capital and the Rwandan Genocide A Micro-Level Analysis
Philip Verwimp, Shanley Pinchotti
This paper applies the theory of social capital to the unfolding of genocide in a Rwandan community located 50 km south of the capital. Using […]
Massive Civilian Displacement in Civil War: Assessing Variation in Colombia
The displacement of civilians is a frequent, yet understudied, outcome of armed groups’ and civilians’ behavior during civil wars. In particular, I find that displacement […]
Agricultural Outputs and Conflict Displacement: Evidence from a Policy Intervention in Rwanda
In 1997 Rwanda introduced a re-settlement policy for refugees displaced during previous conflicts. We exploit geographic variation in the speed of implementation of this policy […]
Remittances in Fragile Settings: a Somali Case Study
Literature on conflict has largely overlooked migrants’ remittances, and literature on migrant’s remittances has largely avoided conflict settings. Using a micro- level approach, this paper […]
Who Joins Ethnic Militias? A Survey of the Oodua People’s Congress in South western Nigeria
The economic analysis of conflicts assigns a crucial role to the rebellion making process. However, the existing literature on this issue often rests on unsatisfactory […]
The Human Capital Cost of Landmine Contamination in Cambodia
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines production and use estimates that there are more than 80 billion landmines in the ground in more than 80 […]