File(s) under permanent embargo
Business as unusual. An explanation of the increase of private economic activity in high-conflict areas in Afghanistan
report
posted on 2023-06-08, 22:49 authored by Tommaso CiarliTommaso Ciarli, Chiara Kofol, Carlo MenonIn this paper we use a unique dataset that combines spatial detailed information on conflict events and on households' activity, to show a positive and significant correlation between violent conflict and entrepreneurship in Afghanistan. We build spatial and IV identifications to estimate the effect of different measures of conflict on the investment in a range of private economic activities of nearby households. The results consistently show that the level of conflict, its impact, and to a lesser extent its frequency, increase the probability that a household engages in self-employment activities with lower capital intensity and in activities related to subsistence agriculture, and reduce the probability of investing in higher capital self-employment. Overall, by increasing entrepreneurship, conflict pushes the country towards a regressive structural change. However, the magnitude of most of the effects is quite small. The paper contributes to a literature that, due to data constraints and identification issues, has not yet delivered conclusive evidence.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Publisher
SERC, LSEPages
55.0Place of publication
LondonSeries
SERC Discussion PaperDepartment affiliated with
- SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications
Institution
SERC, LSEFull text available
- No
Legacy Posted Date
2015-10-16First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-03-22Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC