1932

Abstract

In this review, we examine the links between economic development and social conflict. By , we refer broadly to aggregate changes in per capita income and wealth or in the distribution of that wealth. By , we refer to within-country unrest, ranging from peaceful demonstrations, processions, and strikes to violent riots and civil war. We organize our review by critically examining three common perceptions: that conflict declines with ongoing economic growth; that conflict is principally organized along economic differences rather than similarities; and that conflict, most especially in developing countries, is driven by ethnic motives.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080205
2017-08-02
2024-12-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/economics/9/1/annurev-economics-061109-080205.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080205&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Abadie A, Gardeazabal J. 2010. Methods for measuring the costs of conflict Unpublished manuscript, Harvard Univ. [Google Scholar]
  2. Acemoglu D, Johnson S, Robinson JA. 2001. The colonial origins of comparative development: an empirical investigation. Am. Econ. Rev. 91:1369–401 [Google Scholar]
  3. Alesina A, Baqir R, Easterly W. 1999. Public goods and ethnic divisions. Q. J. Econ. 114:1243–84 [Google Scholar]
  4. Alesina A, La Ferrara E. 2005. Ethnic diversity and economic performance. J. Econ. Lit. 43:721–61 [Google Scholar]
  5. Alesina A, Michalopoulos S, Papaioannou E. 2016. Ethnic inequality. J. Polit. Econ. 124:428–88 [Google Scholar]
  6. Andre C, Plateau J-P. 1998. Land relations under unbearable stress: Rwanda caught in the Malthusian trap. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 34:1–47 [Google Scholar]
  7. Anthony A. 2014. Class war is back again—and British politicians are running scared. The Guardian Nov. 30. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/30/class-war-is-back-again [Google Scholar]
  8. Appadurai A. 2004. The capacity to aspire: culture and the terms of recognition. Culture and Public Action V Rao, M Walton 59–84 Palo Alto, CA: Stanford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  9. Arbath CE, Ashraf QH, Galor O. 2015. The nature of conflict CESifo Work. Pap. 5486, CESifo Group, Munich [Google Scholar]
  10. Ashraf Q, Galor O. 2013. The “Out of Africa” hypothesis, human genetic diversity, and comparative economic development. Am. Econ. Rev. 103:1–46 [Google Scholar]
  11. Austin G. 1996. The effects of government policy on the ethnic distribution of income and wealth in Rwanda: a review of published sources Consult. Rep. World Bank Washington, DC: [Google Scholar]
  12. Banks A. 2008. The 2016 Edition of the Cross-National Time-Series Data Archive Jerusalem: Databanks Int http://www.cntsdata.com [Google Scholar]
  13. Bates RH. 1983. Modernization, ethnic competition, and the rationality of politics in contemporary Africa. State versus Ethnic Claims: African Policy Dilemmas D Rothchild, VA Olunsorola 152–71 Boulder, CO: Westview Press [Google Scholar]
  14. Becker G. 1968. Crime and punishment: an economic approach. J. Polit. Econ. 76:169–217 [Google Scholar]
  15. Bénabou R. 2003. Human capital, technical change, and the welfare state. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 1:522–32 [Google Scholar]
  16. Besley T, Persson T. 2008. Wars and state capacity. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 6:522–30 [Google Scholar]
  17. Besley T, Persson T. 2009. The origins of state capacity: property rights, taxation, and politics. Am. Econ. Rev. 99:1218–44 [Google Scholar]
  18. Besley T, Persson T. 2010. State capacity, conflict, and development. Econometrica 78:1–34 [Google Scholar]
  19. Besley T, Persson T. 2011. Fragile states and development policy. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 9:371–98 [Google Scholar]
  20. Besley T, Reynal-Querol M. 2014. The legacy of historical conflict. Evidence from Africa. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 108:319–36 [Google Scholar]
  21. Bethany L, Gleditsch NP. 2005. Monitoring trends in global combat: a new dataset of battle deaths. Eur. J. Popul. 21:145–66 [Google Scholar]
  22. Bhattacharya S, Joyee D, Kundu T. 2015. Mobility and conflict. Am. Econ. J. Microecon. 7:1281–319 [Google Scholar]
  23. Brubaker R, Laitin DD. 1998. Ethnic and nationalist violence. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 24:423–52 [Google Scholar]
  24. Bruk SI, Apenchenko VS. 1964. Atlas Narodov Mira [Atlas of the Peoples of the World] Moscow: Main Adm. Geod. Cartogr. (GUGK) [Google Scholar]
  25. Burgess R, Jedwab R, Miguel E, Morjaria A, Padró i Miquel G. 2015. The value of democracy: evidence from road building in Kenya. Am. Econ. Rev. 105:1817–51 [Google Scholar]
  26. Caselli F, Coleman J. 2013. On the theory of ethnic conflict. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 11:161–92 [Google Scholar]
  27. Cederman L-E, Weidmann NB, Gleditsch KS. 2011. Horizontal inequalities and ethno-nationalist civil war: a global comparison. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 105:478–95 [Google Scholar]
  28. Cervellati M, Sunde U. 2005. Human capital formation, life expectancy, and the process of development. Am. Econ. Rev. 95:1653–72 [Google Scholar]
  29. Chandra K. 2004. Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Headcounts in India Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  30. Chowdhury AR, Mansoob MS. 2013. A note on war and fiscal capacity in developing countries. Peace Econ. Peace Sci. Public Policy 19:431–35 [Google Scholar]
  31. Ciccone A. 2011. Economic shocks and civil conflict: a comment. Am. Econ. J. Appl. Econ. 3:4215–27 [Google Scholar]
  32. Coates T-N. 2016. The case for considering reparations. The Atlantic Jan. 27. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/tanehisi-coates-reparations/427041/ [Google Scholar]
  33. Collier P. 2001. Economic causes of civil war and their implications for policy. Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict CA Crocker, FO Hampson, P Aall 143–162 Washington, DC: US Inst. Peace [Google Scholar]
  34. Collier P, Hoeffler A. 1998. On economic causes of civil war. Oxf. Econ. Pap. 50:563–73 [Google Scholar]
  35. Collier P, Hoeffler A. 2004a. Greed and grievance in civil war. Oxf. Econ. Pap. 56:563–95 [Google Scholar]
  36. Collier P, Hoeffler A. 2004b. Conflicts. Global Crises, Global Solutions B Lomberg 129–55 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  37. Dal Bó E, Dal Bó P. 2011. Workers, warriors, and criminals: social conflict in general equilibrium. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 9:646–77 [Google Scholar]
  38. de Groot O. 2009. A methodology for the calculation of the global economic costs of conflict Proj. Pap. 2 Dtsch. Inst. Wirtsch. Berlin [Google Scholar]
  39. de Tocqueville A. 1955 (1856). The Old Regime and the French Revolution New York: Anchor Books [Google Scholar]
  40. Desmet K, Ortuño-Ortin I, Wacziarg R. 2012. The political economy of ethnolinguistic cleavages. J. Dev. Econ. 97:322–32 [Google Scholar]
  41. Djankov S, Reynal-Querol M. 2010. Poverty and civil wars: revisiting the evidence. Rev. Econ. Stat. 92:1035–41 [Google Scholar]
  42. Dube O, Vargas JF. 2013. Commodity price shocks and civil conflict: evidence from Colombia. Rev. Econ. Stud. 80:1384–421 [Google Scholar]
  43. Duclos J-Y, Esteban J, Ray D. 2004. Polarization: concepts, measurement, estimation. Econometrica 72:1737–72 [Google Scholar]
  44. Easterly W, Levine R. 1997. Africa's growth tragedy: policies and ethnic divisions. Q. J. Econ. 112:1203–50 [Google Scholar]
  45. Ehrlich I. 1973. Participation in illegitimate activities: a theoretical and empirical investigation. J. Polit. Econ. 81:521–65 [Google Scholar]
  46. Engineer AA. 1987. Ethnic conflict in South Asia. Econ. Polit. Wkly. 22:25969–71 [Google Scholar]
  47. Esteban J, Mayoral L, Ray D. 2012a. Ethnicity and conflict: an empirical study?. Am. Econ. Rev. 102:1310–42 [Google Scholar]
  48. Esteban J, Mayoral L, Ray D. 2012b. Ethnicity and conflict: theory and facts?. Science 336:858–65 [Google Scholar]
  49. Esteban J, Ray D. 1994. On the measurement of polarization. Econometrica 62:819–52 [Google Scholar]
  50. Esteban J, Ray D. 1999. Conflict and distribution. J. Econ. Theory 87:379–415 [Google Scholar]
  51. Esteban J, Ray D. 2008. On the salience of ethnic conflict. Am. Econ. Rev. 98:2185–202 [Google Scholar]
  52. Esteban J, Ray D. 2011a. Linking conflict to inequality and polarization. Am. Econ. Rev. 101:1345–74 [Google Scholar]
  53. Esteban J, Ray D. 2011b. A model of ethnic conflict. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 9:496–521 [Google Scholar]
  54. Fearon JD. 1999. Why ethnic politics and “pork” tend to go together Unpublished manuscript Dep. Polit. Sci., Stanford Univ. Stanford, CA: [Google Scholar]
  55. Fearon JD. 2003. Ethnic and cultural diversity by country. J. Econ. Growth 8:195–222 [Google Scholar]
  56. Fearon JD. 2006. Ethnic mobilization and ethnic violence. The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy BR Weingast, DA Wittman 852–68 Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  57. Fearon JD, Laitin DD. 2003a. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 97:175–90 [Google Scholar]
  58. Fearon JD, Laitin DD. 2003b. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war: dataset http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnic/publicdata/publicdata.html [Google Scholar]
  59. Gates S, Hegre H, Nygård HM, Strand H. 2012. Development consequences of armed conflict. World Dev. 40:1713–22 [Google Scholar]
  60. Genicot G, Ray D. 2014. Aspirations and inequality Unpublished manuscript Dep. Econ., New York Univ. New York: http://www.econ.nyu.edu/user/debraj/Papers/GenicotRayAsp.pdf [Google Scholar]
  61. Glaeser EL. 2002. Legal origins. Q. J. Econ. 117:1193–229 [Google Scholar]
  62. Gleditsch NP, Wallensteen P, Eriksson M, Sollenber M, Strand H. 2002. Armed conflict 1946–2001: a new dataset. J. Peace Res. 39:615–37 [Google Scholar]
  63. Grossman HI, Kim M. 1995. Swords or plowshares? A theory of the security of claims to property. J. Polit. Econ. 103:1275–88 [Google Scholar]
  64. Gurr T. 1968. Psychological factors in civil violence. World Polit. 20:245–78 [Google Scholar]
  65. Hegre H, Sambanis N. 2006. Sensitivity analysis of empirical results on civil war onset. J. Confl. Resolut. 50:508–35 [Google Scholar]
  66. Hess GD. 2003. The economic welfare cost of conflict: an empirical assessment Work. Pap. 852 CESifo Group Munich: [Google Scholar]
  67. Hirschman AO, Rothschild M. 1973. The changing tolerance for income inequality in the course of economic development, with a mathematical appendix. Q. J. Econ. 87:544–66 [Google Scholar]
  68. Hirshleifer J. 1991. The paradox of power. Econ. Polit. 3:177–99 [Google Scholar]
  69. Hirshleifer J. 1995. Anarchy and its breakdown. J. Polit. Econ. 103:26–52 [Google Scholar]
  70. Horowitz D. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley, CA: Univ. Calif. Press [Google Scholar]
  71. Huber J, Mayoral L. 2014. Inequality, ethnicity and conflict Unpublished manuscript Dep. Polit. Sci., Columbia Univ. New York: http://polisci.columbia.edu/files/polisci/u86/huber%20mayoral_0.pdf [Google Scholar]
  72. Huntington SP. 1996. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order New York: Simon and Schuster [Google Scholar]
  73. Ignatieff M. 1993. Blood and Belonging London: Noonday Press [Google Scholar]
  74. Klein E. 2015. Bernie Sanders: the Vox conversation. Vox July 28. http://www.vox.com/2015/7/28/9014491/bernie-sanders-vox-conversation [Google Scholar]
  75. Laitin DD. 2000. What is a language community?. Am. J. Polit. Sci. 44:1142–55 [Google Scholar]
  76. Lichbach MI. 1989. An evaluation of “does economic inequality breed political conflict?” studies. World Polit. 41:4431–70 [Google Scholar]
  77. Lindgren G. 2004. Measuring the economic costs of internal armed conflict: a review of empirical estimates Unpublished manuscript Dep. Peace Confl. Res., Uppsala Univ. Uppsala, Swed.: [Google Scholar]
  78. Matuszeski J, Schneider F. 2006. Patterns of ethnic group segregation and civil conflict Unpublished manuscript Harvard Univ. Cambridge, MA: http://www.cgdev.org/doc/events/02.09.07/Matuszeski-JMP.pdf [Google Scholar]
  79. Mauro P. 1995. Corruption and growth. Q. J. Econ. 110:681–712 [Google Scholar]
  80. Mayoral L, Ray D. 2015. Groups in conflict: size matters, but not in the way you think Unpublished manuscript Inst. Anal. Econ. Barcelona, Spain: http://mayoral.iae-csic.org/research/15Size10.pdf [Google Scholar]
  81. McBride M, Milante G, Skaperdas S. 2011. Peace and war with endogenous state capacity. J. Confl. Resolut. 55:446–68 [Google Scholar]
  82. Mehlum H, Moene KO. 2011. The battle of regimes Unpublished manuscript Cent. Stud. Equal. Soc. Organ. Policy, Dep. Econ. Univ. Oslo Oslo, Nor: http://www.sv.uio.no/esop/english/research/unpublished-works/working-papers/2011/The%20battle%20of%20regimes.pdf [Google Scholar]
  83. Melander E, Pettersson T, Themnér L. 2016. Organized violence, 1989–2015. J. Peace Res. 53:727–42 [Google Scholar]
  84. Midlarski MI. 1988. Rulers and the ruled: patterned inequality and the onset of mass political violence. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 82:2491–509 [Google Scholar]
  85. Miguel E, Satyanath S, Sergenti E. 2004. Economic shocks and civil conflict: an instrumental variables approach. J. Polit. Econ. 112:725–53 [Google Scholar]
  86. Mitra A, Ray D. 2014. Implications of an economic theory of conflict: Hindu-Muslim violence in India. J. Polit. Econ. 122:719–65 [Google Scholar]
  87. Montalvo JG, Reynal-Querol M. 2005. Ethnic polarization, potential conflict and civil war. Am. Econ. Rev. 95:796–816 [Google Scholar]
  88. Montalvo JG, Reynal-Querol M. 2007. Fighting against malaria: prevent wars while waiting for the miraculous vaccines. Rev. Econ. Stat. 89:165–77 [Google Scholar]
  89. Mueller H. 2013. The economic cost of conflict Work. Pap., Int. Growth Cent London: [Google Scholar]
  90. Mueller H. 2016. Growth and violence: argument for a per capita measure of civil war. Economica 83:473–97 [Google Scholar]
  91. Muller EN, Seligson MA, Fu H. 1989. Land inequality and political violence. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 83:577–86 [Google Scholar]
  92. Nagel J. 1974. Inequality and discontent: a non-linear hypothesis. World Polit. 26:453–72 [Google Scholar]
  93. Olzak S, Shanahan S. 1996. Deprivation and race riots: an extension of Spilerman's analysis. Soc. Forces 74:931–61 [Google Scholar]
  94. Østby G. 2008. Polarization, horizontal inequalities and violent civil conflict. J. Peace Res. 45:143–62 [Google Scholar]
  95. Perotti R. 1996. Growth, income distribution, and democracy: what the data say. J. Econ. Growth 1:149–87 [Google Scholar]
  96. Petroff A. 2015. Cartier boss says rising inequality will spark class war. CNN Money June 11. http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/10/luxury/cartier-inequality-class-war/ [Google Scholar]
  97. Piketty T. 2014. Capital in the Twenty-First Century Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  98. Pinker S. 2011. The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined London: Penguin Books [Google Scholar]
  99. Prunier G. 1996. The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide New York: Columbia Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  100. Ray D. 1998. Development Economics Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  101. Ray D. 2006. Aspirations, poverty and economic change. What Have We Learnt About Poverty A Banerjee, R Bénabou, D Mookherjee 409–22 Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  102. Schuman M. 2014. There's a class war going on and the poor are getting their butts kicked. Time Apr. 1. http://time.com/44917/income-inequality-karl-marx-class-war-poverty/ [Google Scholar]
  103. Sen AK. 1973. On Economic Inequality Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press [Google Scholar]
  104. Skaperdas S. 1992. Cooperation, conflict, and power in the absence of property rights. Am. Econ. Rev. 82:720–39 [Google Scholar]
  105. Skocpol T. 1985. Bringing the state back in: strategies of analysis in current research. Bringing the State Back In PB Evans, D Rueschemeyer, T Skocpol, 3–42 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  106. Snider LW. 1990. The political performance of governments, external debt service, and domestic political violence. Int. Polit. Sci. Rev. 11:403–22 [Google Scholar]
  107. Spilerman S. 1970. The causes of racial disturbances: a comparison of alternative explanations. Am. Sociol. Rev. 35:627–49 [Google Scholar]
  108. Spilerman S. 1971. The causes of racial disturbances: test of an explanation. Am. Sociol. Rev. 36:427–43 [Google Scholar]
  109. Spilerman S. 1976. Structural characteristics of cities and the severity of racial disorders. Am. Sociol. Rev. 41:771–93 [Google Scholar]
  110. Stein B. 2006. In class warfare, guess which class is winning. The New York Times Nov. 26. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html [Google Scholar]
  111. Stewart F. 2002. Horizontal inequalities: a neglected dimension of development Work. Pap., World Inst. Dev. Econ. Res., UN Univ. Helsinki: [Google Scholar]
  112. United Nations High Com. Refug. (UNHCR) 2015. Worldwide displacement hits all-time high as war and persecution increase United Nations High Com. Refug. Geneva: http://www.unhcr.org/558193896.html [Google Scholar]
  113. Weidmann NB, Rød JK, Cederman L-E. 2010. Representing ethnic groups in space: a new dataset. J. Peace Res. 47:491–99 [Google Scholar]
  114. Wilson WJ. 1978. The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
  115. Wolfson MC. 1994. When inequalities diverge. Am. Econ. Rev. 84:353–58 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080205
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080205
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error