Institutions and conflict

Chandan Jha, Bibhudutta Panda and Santosh Kumar Sahu

Economic Modelling, 2022, vol. 113, issue C

Abstract: The literature examining the effect of institutions on the spread of conflict remains scarce despite 100 civilians being killed in armed conflicts every day as per United Nations statistics. We employ the two-part model to study the effect of institutions on the spread of conflict in 190 countries from 2000 to 2016. We find that a better rule of law lowers the spread of conflict by increasing the cost of violence for perpetrators. Next, conditional on the conflict being present, countries with weaker corruption control experience a lower spread of conflict. Consistent with the “grease the wheels” hypothesis, this finding suggests that victimized groups use bribery to protect themselves against violence. Finally, press freedom reduces the spread of conflict by promoting government accountability, with the effect being higher in countries with greater internet penetration. Our findings highlight the roles of the government and civil society in preventing the loss of lives due to conflicts.

Keywords: Conflict; Control of corruption; Press freedom; Rule of law; Governance; Institutions; Internet (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 D74 D83 L86 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:113:y:2022:i:c:s0264999322001407

DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2022.105894

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