Behavioral Differences in Violence: The Case of Intra-Group Differences of Paramilitaries and Guerrillas in Colombia

Thomas Bassetti, Raul Caruso () and Darwin Cortés

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: In most empirical studies on civil wars, causes and determinants of conflict have been hitherto explored assuming that actors involved were either unitary or stable. However, if this intra-group homogeneity assumption does not hold, empirical econometric estimates may be biased and policy prescriptions are less reliable. We use Fixed Effects Finite Mixture Model (FE-FMM) approach to address this issue. This methodology provides a natural representation of heterogeneity when data originate from different latent classes and the affiliation is unknown. It allows to identify sub-populations within a population as well as the determinants of their behaviors. By combining various data sources for the period 2000-2005, we apply this new technique to the Colombian conflict. Our results confirm a behavioral heterogeneity in guerrilla’s armed groups and their distinct economic correlates so showing that different patterns of behavior exist. By contrast paramilitaries behave as a rather homogenous group.

Keywords: Finite Mixture Models; Colombian Conflict; behavioral differences in conflict (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C46 D74 H72 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-06
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Related works:
Working Paper: Behavioral differences in violence: The case of intra-group differences of Paramilitaries and Guerrillas in Colombia (2015)
Working Paper: Behavioral differences in violence: The case of intra-group differences of Paramilitaries and Guerrillas in Colombia (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:64943

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