Do giant oilfield discoveries fuel internal armed conflicts?

Yu-Hsiang Lei and Guy Michaels

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: We use new data to examine the effects of giant oilfield discoveries around the world since 1946. On average, these discoveries increase per capita oil production and oil exports by up to 50%. But these giant oilfield discoveries also have a dark side: they increase the incidence of internal armed conflict by about 5-8 percentage points. This increased incidence of conflict due to giant oilfield discoveries is especially high for countries that had already experienced armed conflicts or coups in the decade prior to discovery.

Keywords: natural resources; resource curse; petroleum; armed conflict; civil war (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q33 Q34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-ger and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (113)

Published in Journal of Development Economics, September, 2014, 110, pp. 139-157. ISSN: 0304-3878

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/57562/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Do giant oilfield discoveries fuel internal armed conflicts? (2014)
Working Paper: Do Giant Oilfield Discoveries Fuel Internal Armed Conflicts? (2011)
Working Paper: Do Giant Oilfield Discoveries Fuel Internal Armed Conflicts? (2011)
Working Paper: Do giant oilfield discoveries fuel internal armed conflicts? (2011)
Working Paper: Do Giant Oilfield Discoveries Fuel Internal Armed Conflicts? (2011)
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