IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_4112.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Regional Inequality and Internal Conflict

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Lessmann

Abstract

This paper studies the influence of interregional inequality within countries on internal con-flicts. Regional inequalities are measured by the population-weighted coefficient of variation of regional GDP per capita. As the main innovation, I use a panel data set of country-level re- gional inequalities, which covers 56 countries (835 subnational regions) between 1980 and 2009. I also consider a broader cross-section data set for the year 2005, which covers 110 countries (1569 subnational regions). Conflict is measured by the incidence of civil war (UCDP/PRIO data) and a risk measure of internal conflict (war, terrorism, and riots) provided by the PRS Group’s International Country Risk Guide. Logit estimations are employed as well as OLS fixed effects panel regressions. I find that regional inequalities increase the risk of internal conflict.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Lessmann, 2013. "Regional Inequality and Internal Conflict," CESifo Working Paper Series 4112, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp4112.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2012. "Trade and Regional Inequality," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 88(2), pages 109-136, April.
    2. Eric Neumayer, 2004. "The Impact of Political Violence on Tourism," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 48(2), pages 259-281, April.
    3. Gupta, Sanjeev & Clements, Benedict & Bhattacharya, Rina & Chakravarti, Shamit, 2004. "Fiscal consequences of armed conflict and terrorism in low- and middle-income countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 403-421, June.
    4. Gabor Kezdi, 2005. "Robus Standard Error Estimation in Fixed-Effects Panel Models," Econometrics 0508018, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Anke S. Kessler & Nico A. Hansen & Christian Lessmann, 2011. "Interregional Redistribution and Mobility in Federations: A Positive Approach," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 78(4), pages 1345-1378.
    6. Alberto Alesina & Enrico Spolaore, 1997. "On the Number and Size of Nations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1027-1056.
    7. Lessmann, Christian, 2014. "Spatial inequality and development — Is there an inverted-U relationship?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 35-51.
    8. Christian Lessmann, 2012. "Regional Inequality and Decentralization: An Empirical Analysis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(6), pages 1363-1388, June.
    9. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 10(3), pages 565-591, September.
    10. Kanbur, Ravi & Venables, Anthony J. (ed.), 2005. "Spatial Inequality and Development," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199278633.
    11. Fearon, James D. & Laitin, David D., 2003. "Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 97(1), pages 75-90, February.
    12. Doyle, Michael W. & Sambanis, Nicholas, 2000. "International Peacebuilding: A Theoretical and Quantitative Analysis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 94(4), pages 779-801, December.
    13. Esteban, Joan & Ray, Debraj, 1994. "On the Measurement of Polarization," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(4), pages 819-851, July.
    14. Nicola Gennaioli & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2013. "Human Capital and Regional Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(1), pages 105-164.
    15. Frances Stewart, 2000. "Crisis Prevention: Tackling Horizontal Inequalities," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 245-262.
    16. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2004. "Greed and grievance in civil war," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 563-595, October.
    17. Sen, Amartya, 1973. "On Economic Inequality," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198281931.
    18. Christian Lessmann, 2009. "Fiscal Decentralization and Regional Disparity: Evidence from Cross-Section and Panel Data," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(10), pages 2455-2473, October.
    19. Jinjarak, Yothin, 2009. "Trade variety and political conflict: Some international evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 26-28, April.
    20. Patrick Bolton & Gérard Roland, 1997. "The Breakup of Nations: A Political Economy Analysis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1057-1090.
    21. Christian Lessmann, 2012. "Regional inequality and decentralization: an empirical analysis," Environment and Planning A, Pion Ltd, London, vol. 44(6), pages 1363-1388, June.
    22. Nils Petter Gleditsch & Peter Wallensteen & Mikael Eriksson & Margareta Sollenberg & Hã…Vard Strand, 2002. "Armed Conflict 1946-2001: A New Dataset," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 39(5), pages 615-637, September.
    23. Frances Stewart, "undated". "Horizontal Inequalities: A Neglected Dimension of Development," QEH Working Papers qehwps81, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    24. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 10(3), pages 565-591, September.
    25. Lotta Harbom & Peter Wallensteen, 2010. "Armed Conflicts, 1946—2009," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 47(4), pages 501-509, July.
    26. Mehran, Farhad, 1976. "Linear Measures of Income Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(4), pages 805-809, July.
    27. Ravi Kanbur, 2005. "Spatial Inequality and Development: Overview of UNU-WIDER Project," Working Papers id:215, eSocialSciences.
    28. James D. Fearon, 2005. "Primary Commodity Exports and Civil War," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 49(4), pages 483-507, August.
    29. repec:oup:qjecon:v:128:y:2012:i:1:p:105-164 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Christopher Cramer, 2003. "Does inequality cause conflict?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(4), pages 397-412.
    31. Christa Deiwiks & Lars-Erik Cederman & Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, 2012. "Inequality and conflict in federations," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 49(2), pages 289-304, March.
    32. repec:oup:restud:v:78:y::i:4:p:1345-1378 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Ravi Kanbur & Tony Venables, 2005. "Introduction: Spatial inequality and development," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 1-2, January.
    34. Gudrun Østby, 2008. "Polarization, Horizontal Inequalities and Violent Civil Conflict," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 45(2), pages 143-162, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Wieland, 2020. "REAT: A Regional Economic Analysis Toolbox for R," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 7, pages 1-57.
    2. Lessmann, Christian, 2014. "Spatial inequality and development — Is there an inverted-U relationship?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 35-51.
    3. Ajide, Kazeem B. & Alimi, Olorunfemi Y., 2021. "Income inequality, human capital and terrorism in Africa: Beyond exploratory analytics," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 218-240.
    4. Achten, Sandra & Lessmann, Christian, 2020. "Spatial inequality, geography and economic activity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    5. Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Lessmann, Christian & Markwardt, Gunther, 2018. "Natural resource rents and internal conflicts: Can decentralization lift the curse?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 186-205.
    6. Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Witthuhn, Stefan, 2017. "Corruption and political stability: Does the youth bulge matter?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 47-70.
    7. Federica Cappelli, 2023. "Investigating the origins of differentiated vulnerabilities to climate change through the lenses of the Capability Approach," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(3), pages 1051-1074, October.
    8. Kacou Yves Thierry Kacou, 2022. "Interregional inequality in Africa, convergence, and multiple equilibria: Evidence from nighttime light data," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 918-940, May.
    9. André Seidel, 2015. "Compliance Costs, Corruption and the Differentiation of Bureaucratic Services," CESifo Working Paper Series 5683, CESifo.
    10. Bo Tan & Hongwei Wang & Chen Ma & Xiaoqin Wang & Jing Zhou, 2021. "Spatial and Temporal Measurement of the Interaction between the County Economy and Rural Transformation in Xinjiang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-17, May.
    11. Hirte, Georg & Lessmann, Christian & Seidel, André, 2020. "International trade, geographic heterogeneity and interregional inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    12. Lessmann, Christian & Seidel, André, 2017. "Regional inequality, convergence, and its determinants – A view from outer space," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 110-132.
    13. Georg Hirte & Christian Lessmann, 2014. "Trade, Integration, and Interregional Inequality," CESifo Working Paper Series 4799, CESifo.
    14. Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Gholipour, Hassan F., 2023. "COVID-19 fatalities and internal conflict: Does government economic support matter?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Georg Hirte & Christian Lessmann, 2014. "Trade and Interregional Inequality," ERSA conference papers ersa14p304, European Regional Science Association.
    16. Kalenborn, Christine & Lessmann, Christian, 2014. "Regional Income Inequality lowers Life Satisfaction: Evidence from OECD Countries," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100561, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    17. Muhammad Hidayat & Nasri Bachtiar & Sjafrizal Sjafrizal & Elvina Primayesa, 2023. "The Influence of Investment, Energy Infrastructure, and Human Capital Towards Convergence of Regional Disparities in Sumatra Island, Indonesia; Using Oil and Gas Data and Without Oil and Gas," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(4), pages 139-149, July.
    18. Muhammad Hidayat & Nasri Bachtiar & Sjafrizal Sjafrizal & Elvina Primayesa, 2022. "Does Investment and Energy Infrastructure Influence Convergence in Sumatra Island, Indonesia?," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(4), pages 274-281, July.
    19. Ahlerup, Pelle & Baskaran, Thushyanthan & Bigsten, Arne, 2017. "Regional development and national identity in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 622-643.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lessmann, Christian, 2014. "Spatial inequality and development — Is there an inverted-U relationship?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 35-51.
    2. Lessmann, Christian, 2013. "Foreign direct investment and regional inequality: A panel data analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 129-149.
    3. Lessmann, Christian & Seidel, André, 2017. "Regional inequality, convergence, and its determinants – A view from outer space," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 110-132.
    4. Roberto Ezcurra & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2017. "Does ethnic segregation matter for spatial inequality?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(6), pages 1149-1178.
    5. Georg Hirte & Christian Lessmann, 2014. "Trade, Integration, and Interregional Inequality," CESifo Working Paper Series 4799, CESifo.
    6. Camille Laville, 2018. "The econometrical causal analysis of internal conflicts: The evolutions of a growing literature [L’analyse économétrique des conflits internes par l’approche causale : les évolutions d’une littérat," Working Papers hal-01940461, HAL.
    7. Camille Laville, 2018. "The econometrical causal analysis of internal conflicts: The evolutions of a growing literature [L’analyse économétrique des conflits internes par l’approche causale : les évolutions d’une littérat," CERDI Working papers hal-01940461, HAL.
    8. Achten, Sandra & Lessmann, Christian, 2020. "Spatial inequality, geography and economic activity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    9. Héctor Galindo Silva, 2007. "Polarización económica y emergencia de confilctos violentos internos un estudio empírico," Documentos de Economía 4449, Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá.
    10. Georg Hirte & Christian Lessmann, 2014. "Trade and Interregional Inequality," ERSA conference papers ersa14p304, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Ezcurra, Roberto & Palacios, David, 2016. "Terrorism and spatial disparities: Does interregional inequality matter?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 60-74.
    12. Baten, Joerg & Mumme, Christina, 2013. "Does inequality lead to civil wars? A global long-term study using anthropometric indicators (1816–1999)," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 56-79.
    13. Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Lessmann, Christian & Markwardt, Gunther, 2018. "Natural resource rents and internal conflicts: Can decentralization lift the curse?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 186-205.
    14. Gudrun Østby, 2013. "Inequality and political violence: A review of the literature," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 16(2), pages 206-231, June.
    15. John D. Huber & Laura Mayoral, 2019. "Group inequality and the severity of civil conflict," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-41, March.
    16. Çağatay Bircan & Tilman Brück & Marc Vothknecht, 2017. "Violent conflict and inequality," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 125-144, April.
    17. Christian Lessmann, 2012. "Regional Inequality and Decentralization: An Empirical Analysis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(6), pages 1363-1388, June.
    18. Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Witthuhn, Stefan, 2017. "Corruption and political stability: Does the youth bulge matter?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 47-70.
    19. Elena Ianchovichina & Lili Mottaghi & Shantayanan Devarajan, "undated". "Middle East and North Africa Economic Monitor, October 2015," World Bank Publications - Reports 22711, The World Bank Group.
    20. Hirte, Georg & Lessmann, Christian & Seidel, André, 2020. "International trade, geographic heterogeneity and interregional inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    regional inequality; internal conflict; panel data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.