Kinship and Conflict: Evidence from Segmentary Lineage Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa

Jacob Moscona, Nathan Nunn and James Robinson

No 24209, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We test the long-standing hypothesis that ethnic groups that are organized around ‘segmentary lineages’ are more prone to conflict. Ethnographic accounts suggest that in segmentary lineage societies, which are characterized by strong allegiances to distant relatives, individuals are obligated to come to the aid of fellow lineage members when they become involved in conflicts. As a consequence, small disagreements often escalate to larger-scale conflicts involving many individuals. We test for this link between segmentary lineage and conflict across 145 African ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa. Using a number of estimation strategies, including an RD design at ethnic boundaries, we find that segmentary lineage societies experience more conflicts and particularly ones that are retaliatory, long in duration, and large in scale.

JEL-codes: D74 O55 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev and nep-evo
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