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Does development assistance reduce violence? Evidence from Afghanistan

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  • Tiffany Chou

    (U.S. Department of the Treasury)

Abstract

Current military doctrine emphasizes the importance of development spending in reducing insurgent violence. Using data from three distinct development programs, the Afghan National Solidarity Program, USAID’s Local Governance and Community Development Program, and the U.S. military's Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP), combined with military records of insurgent-initiated events, this article explores whether development aid in Afghanistan is violence-reducing. I find that overall spending has no clear effect on rebel attacks. Moreover, the type of development program most effective at reducing violence in Iraq—small CERP projects—does not appear to do so in Afghanistan. Possible reasons include troop strength, conditionality of aid, effectiveness of aid in producing benign outcomes, and measurement issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Tiffany Chou, 2012. "Does development assistance reduce violence? Evidence from Afghanistan," Economics of Peace and Security Journal, EPS Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 5-13, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:epc:journl:v:7:y:2012:i:2:p:5-13
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    File URL: http://www.epsjournal.org.uk/index.php/EPSJ/article/view/138
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vincent A. Floreani & Gladys López-Acevedo & Martín Rama, 2021. "Conflict and Poverty in Afghanistan’s Transition," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(10), pages 1776-1790, October.
    2. Katarzyna Andrzejczak & Agata Kliber, 2015. "The Model of French Development Assistance – Who Gets the Help?," Dynamic Econometric Models, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 15, pages 89-109.
    3. Scoones David, 2013. "Winning Hearts and Minds: Public Good Provision in the Shadow of Insurgency," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 17-31, April.
    4. Zürcher, Christoph, 2017. "What Do We (Not) Know About Development Aid and Violence? A Systematic Review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 506-522.
    5. Gilles Carbonnier, 2018. "Humanitarian economics," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-54, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Travers Barclay Child, 2017. "We Don’t Need No Education: Reconstruction and Conflict across Afghanistan," HiCN Working Papers 244, Households in Conflict Network.
    7. Travers B. Child & David Scoones, 2017. "Community preferences, insurgency, and the success of reconstruction spending," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 34-52, January.
    8. Gilles Carbonnier, 2018. "Humanitarian economics," WIDER Working Paper Series 54, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Greg Adams, 2015. "Honing the proper edge: CERP and the two-sided potential of military-led development in Afghanistan," Economics of Peace and Security Journal, EPS Publishing, vol. 10(2), pages 53-60, October.
    10. Daniel Karell, 2015. "Aid, Power, and Grievances: Lessons for War and Peace from Rural Afghanistan," Economics of Peace and Security Journal, EPS Publishing, vol. 10(2), pages 43-52, October.
    11. Aqib Aslam & Enrico Berkes & Martin Fukac & Jeta Menkulasi & Axel Schimmelpfennig, 2014. "Afghanistan: Balancing Social and Security Spending in the Context of a Shrinking Resource Envelope," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 31(2), pages 165-197, September.
    12. Travers B Child, 2023. "Losing Hearts & Minds: Aid and Ideology," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 67(2-3), pages 457-493, February.
    13. Child, Travers Barclay, 2019. "Conflict and counterinsurgency aid: Drawing sectoral distinctions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Development assistance; violence; Afghanistan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • O2 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy

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