Fear Not For Man? Armed conflict and social capital in Mali

Thomas Calvo, Emmanuelle Lavallée (), Mireille Razafindrakoto () and François Roubaud
Additional contact information
Emmanuelle Lavallée: DIAL, LEDa, IRD, Université Paris-Dauphine, Université PSL
Mireille Razafindrakoto: DIAL-LEDa, IRD, Université Paris-Dauphine, PSL Université

No DT/2019/10, Working Papers from DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation)

Abstract: This paper studies the effects of armed conflict on social capital in Mali, where a violent conflict has been raging since 2012. We examine the conflict's impacts on associational membership using event location data and unique survey data on governance, peace and security (GPS-SHaSA). We show that, in conflict-exposed areas, adult involvement in associations increases from 7 to 14 percentage points. Instrumental variable and difference-in-differences strategies complementary mitigate reverse causation and omitted variable biases as estimated results remain very consistent. Robust estimations constrained to non-migrants samples also rule out selection into migration. Yet this result, consistent with the argument that armed conflict cultivates social engagement, is not a positive outcome in the case of Mali. The increase is observed solely for family and political associations, which are comparatively inward-looking and act as interest groups. We interpret this finding as a form of withdrawal behind group or community boundaries, an interpretation supported by further analysis of interpersonal trust. This sort of withdrawal may exacerbate ethnic divisions and deepen the conflict.

Keywords: Social capital; Con ict; Participation; Trust; Mali. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 F51 O12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2019-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev and nep-soc
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://dial.ird.fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/201 ... -capital-in-Mali.pdf First version, 2019 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Fear Not For Man? Armed conflict and social capital in Mali (2023)
Journal Article: Fear Not For Man? Armed conflict and social capital in Mali (2020)
Working Paper: Fear Not For Man? Armed conflict and social capital in Mali (2020)
Working Paper: Fear Not For Man ? Armed conflict and social capital in Mali (2019)
Working Paper: Fear not for man? Armed conflict and social capital in Mali (2018)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201910

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Loic Le Pezennec ().