Conflict victimization shapes norms of rule compliance: Evidence from Colombia

Gustav Agneman

European Economic Review, 2025, vol. 179, issue C

Abstract: This study explores how conflict victimization influences civilians’ tendency to comply (or not) with armed actors, a behavioral measure which is elicited through a lab-in-the field experiment in Meta, Colombia. Violence could promote compliance or non-compliance depending on whether a “fear of punishment” or a “taste for retribution” dominates. I find that conflict victimization increases rule violations against the main insurgent group (the FARC-EP) but has no effect on participants’ tendency to violate rules associated with the Colombian Armed Forces. The link between victimization and non-compliance with the FARC-EP is explained by the more frequent victimization of civilians by the insurgent group, suggesting that violent targeting of civilians fosters resistance rather than submission. I support a causal interpretation through an instrumental variable approach that leverages the distance to a historic front-line as an instrument for victimization.

Keywords: Conflict victimization; Rule compliance; Lab-in-the-field experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:179:y:2025:i:c:s0014292125001655

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2025.105115

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