Civilian Killings and Long-Run Development: Evidence from the Korean War

Yeonha Jung, Gedeon Lim and Sangyoon Park

No 11974, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: This study examines the economic legacy of civilian killings during the Korean War, which disproportionately targeted local elites, educated individuals, and their families. For identification, we exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the spatial distribution of killings driven by unanticipated UN military operations. Evidence suggests that local exposure to civilian killings had a persistently negative impact on contemporary development. As a key mechanism, we find that civilian killings led to a relative decline in structural transformation, potentially due to reduced investments in human capital.

Keywords: civilian killings; Korean War; long-run development; structural transformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 N15 O14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11974

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