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Conflict Exposure and Competitiveness: Experimental Evidence from the Football Field in Sierra Leone

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  • Francesco Cecchi
  • Koen Leuveld
  • Maarten Voors

Abstract

We use data from a street football tournament and a series of lab-in-field experiments in postconflict Sierra Leone to examine the impact of exposure to conflict violence on competitive behavior. We find that football players who experienced more intense exposure to violence are more likely to get a foul card during a game. In the lab we find that these individuals are significantly less risk averse and more altruistic toward their in-group (teammates). We then isolate competitiveness from aggressiveness and find that conflict exposure increases the willingness to compete toward the out-group. These results are in line with theory highlighting the role of intergroup conflict in increasing in-group cooperation while exacerbating out-group antagonism. Next to other-regarding preferences and risk propensity, changes in individual preferences for competition may affect long-run development trajectories and postconflict recovery.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Cecchi & Koen Leuveld & Maarten Voors, 2016. "Conflict Exposure and Competitiveness: Experimental Evidence from the Football Field in Sierra Leone," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(3), pages 405-435.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/684969
    DOI: 10.1086/684969
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    Cited by:

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    2. El-Bialy, Nora & Fraile Aranda, Elisa & Nicklisch, Andreas & Saleh, Lamis & Voigt, Stefan, 2021. "To cooperate or not to cooperate? An analysis of in-group favoritism among Syrian refugees," ILE Working Paper Series 48, University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics.
    3. Sonia Bhalotra & Irma Clots-Figueras & Lakshmi Iyer & Joseph Vecci, 2023. "Leader Identity and Coordination," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(1), pages 175-189, January.
    4. Michal Bauer & Christopher Blattman & Julie Chytilová & Joseph Henrich & Edward Miguel & Tamar Mitts, 2016. "Can War Foster Cooperation?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 249-274, Summer.
    5. Gangadharan, Lata & Islam, Asad & Ouch, Chandarany & Wang, Liang Choon, 2022. "The long-term effects of genocide on antisocial preferences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    6. El-Bialy, Nora & Fraile Aranda, Elisa & Nicklisch, Andreas & Saleh, Lamis & Voigt, Stefan, 2020. "Syrian Civil War Victims Trust Each Other, but Punish When and Whomever They Can," ILE Working Paper Series 40, University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics.
    7. Ziv Bar-Nahum & Israel Finkelshtain & Rico Ihle & Ofir D. Rubin, 2020. "Effects of violent political conflict on the supply, demand and fragmentation of fresh food markets," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(3), pages 503-515, June.
    8. Isabel Ruiz & Carlos Vargas-Silva, 2022. "Refugee return and social cohesion [‘War’s Enduring Effects on the Development of Egalitarian Motivations and In-Group Biases’]," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 38(3), pages 678-698.
    9. Dominic Rohner & Mathias Thoenig, 2021. "The Elusive Peace Dividend of Development Policy: From War Traps to Macro Complementarities," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 111-131, August.
    10. Barriga, Alicia & Ferguson, Neil T. N. & Fiala, Nathan & Leroch, Martin Alois, 2020. "Ethnic cooperation and conflict in Kenya," Ruhr Economic Papers 872, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    11. Reilly Barry & Sam Hannah, 2022. "The distributional impact of the Sierra Leone conflict on household welfare," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-41, January.
    12. El-Bialy, Nora & Aranda, Elisa Fraile & Nicklisch, Andreas & Saleh, Lamis & Voigt, Stefan, 2022. "To cooperate or not to cooperate? An analysis of cooperation and peer punishment among Syrian refugees, Germans, and Jordanians," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Cecchi, Francesco & Duchoslav, Jan, 2018. "The effect of prenatal stress on cooperation: Evidence from violent conflict in Uganda," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 35-56.
    14. Bhattacharya, Nilanjan & Pakrashi, Debayan & Saha, Sarani & Wang, Liang C., 2023. "Identity assimilation: Impact of conflict and partition on the giving behaviors of refugees and natives in West Bengal," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1297, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Colin O'Reilly, 2021. "Violent conflict and institutional change," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(2), pages 257-317, April.
    16. Krzysztof Krakowski, 2022. "Adjustments to gang exposure in early adolescence," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(3), pages 337-352, May.

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