Political favoritism in post-conflict settings: evidence from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover

Krystal Ha
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Krystal Ha: Monash University

Warwick-Monash Economics Student Papers from Warwick Monash Economics Student Papers

Abstract: I examine political favoritism based on prior support during conflicts. In particular, I identify whether or not the new Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which took over in August 2021, is systematically favoring its past allies using a difference-in-differences method. I proxy economic activity using nighttime light intensity and conflict alignment using a database of 75,915 militarily significant conflict events occurring in Afghanistan from 2004-2009. I find evidence that the Taliban are discriminating against their former enemies. I also find evidence that the Taliban are actively favouring their past allies in periods of low economic activity. This paper augments the literature on political favoritism by creating a new measure for political alignment and also suggests that the Taliban could be contributing to regional instability through favoritism.

Keywords: Afghanistan; favoritism; spatial analysis; georeferenced data; conflict JEL classifications: D72; F51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol
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