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Resources and Governance in Sierra Leone’s Civil War

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Listed:
  • Maarten Voors
  • Peter Van Der Windt
  • Kostadis J. Papaioannou
  • Erwin Bulte

Abstract

We empirically investigate the role of natural resources, and governance in explaining variation in the intensity of conflict during the 1991–2002 civil war in Sierra Leone. As a proxy for governance quality we exploit exogenous variation in political competition at the level of the chieftaincy. As a proxy for resources we use data on the location of pre-war mining sites. Our main result is that neither governance nor resources robustly explains the onset or duration of violence during the civil war in Sierra Leone.

Suggested Citation

  • Maarten Voors & Peter Van Der Windt & Kostadis J. Papaioannou & Erwin Bulte, 2017. "Resources and Governance in Sierra Leone’s Civil War," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(2), pages 278-294, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:53:y:2017:i:2:p:278-294
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2016.1160068
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    References listed on IDEAS

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